By Lucas Robbins, SDA Communications
Our lives are filled with memories. Some good. Some bad. It is those memories that shape us as individuals and guide us through life. Sun Devil fan and Purple Heart recipient Sgt. Jerrick Cly, who has experienced his share of the good and the bad throughout the years, was able to take a road trip with the Sun Devils to see the football team compete in Colorado last weekend thanks to a generous gift from a Sun Devil Club donor in the hopes of creating new, lasting memories. The kind of exciting, prideful, overwhelmingly happy memories – the ones that come with football victories – with which any fan can relate.
Cly began his service in the US Army in March 2010 and was deployed in Kandahar, Afghanistan two years later. Cly was driving a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle (MRAP), while out securing a highway for his company’s convoy, when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED). He and three passengers were injured, and one other, his best friend, was killed.
“The driver is always the last one to get out,” Cly told his fellow soldiers in the moment. “No one is behind me.”
Before Cly’s selfless actions in combat earned him a Purple Heart, he was a young boy growing up in Arizona, always ready for the chance to attend a Sun Devil football game. Although the incident casts a fog over some of his memories, Cly still remembers his uncle taking him to his first ASU game.
“I was probably like six-years-old,” Cly recalled. “It was the first time I had ever been to Phoenix, and the first time I ever left the reservation. He (uncle) bought me a drink and a popcorn and we were sitting there yelling all crazy, the best time of my life.”
Cly grew up in the small mining town of Kayenta, Arizona, which is part of the Navajo Nation. He enjoyed life on his grandmother’s farm tending livestock and working on the ranch, learning everything from butchering to branding.
“My grandmother was the one who really raised me,” Cly said. “My mother moved out here (Phoenix) back when I was in third grade, so I stayed with my grandmother and helped out.”
Cly attended school in Kayenta up to sixth grade before moving to live with his mother in Phoenix to experience life in the city. He finished middle school and moved on to Alhambra High School, where he played football, basketball and participated in JROTC.
After speaking with his grandfather, Cly realized that he needed to return home to better reconnect with his family and learn more about his culture. He moved back to Kayenta his sophomore year and attended Monument Valley High School where he also played football, all the while working as a ranch-hand on the family farm.
Searching for work was difficult for Cly after graduating high school but after a few months, he finally met a recruiter from the Marine Corps.
“I laid it down on my grandmother, parents and everybody,” Cly said. “I had no where to go and they said I needed to pay some bills, obviously the ranch hand help expired and I felt like I had to take care of myself.”
After training at different bases across the country in Kentucky, Colorado and Louisiana, Cly’s company was deployed in Afghanistan, where he was stationed and serving as a cavalry scout.
After returning to the United States to finish the rest of his surgeries, Cly moved back to his hometown to receive traditional tribal ceremonies and married his friend from high school Phyllisia, who also served five years in the Active Army. This past July was the couple’s second-year anniversary.
“I took her on this (Colorado) trip, her first away game, and her first ASU game (Weber State) and she had a blast, so now she’s becoming an ASU fan!”
Cly, now medically retired, was fortunate enough to receive a trip to the ASU at Colorado game from a generous Sun Devil donor. He and his wife spent the weekend in Boulder, Colorado watching the Sun Devils 38-24 win over the Buffaloes.
“Honestly, that was probably the first time I didn't really remember (the accident),” admitted Cly. “I didn’t have any nightmares or a have hard time sleeping. It was just all enjoyable. The best time of my life since the incident happened.”
Cly and Phyillisia moved to Phoenix last May and have been living there since. He is currently studying electrical engineering at Gateway Community College and plans to transfer to ASU soon.
Some memories fade as we create new ones in their place. The memories that come with Sun Devil football victories – the exciting, prideful, overwhelmingly happy memories – will hopefully last a lifetime for Sgt. Jerrick Cly and his new Sun Devil recruit Phyillisia.