An English grad, this Army veteran’s quest will traverse America

LYNN – After years spent as an Army intelligence specialist, Mark DiSessa is embarking on a new fact-finding mission with the help of a laptop and a 2003 Mitsubishi Gallant.When he wraps up eight years of military life on April 24, DiSessa, 25, will embark on a cross-country journey that he estimates will take three to five months.The English High School Class of 2000 graduate said he turned down high-paying intelligence-gathering jobs to undertake a trip that is part sight seeing adventure, part self-discovery odyssey.He hopes his trip will be an intelligence gathering exercise into his past as much as a ground laying expedition for his future.DiSessa has relatively few memories of his life before the age of eight when he was adopted by a local family after spending his early childhood moving from one living situation to another.”I was cared for by neighbors and distant relatives. I bounced around,” he said.He thinks his lack of memories of his earlier years is his body’s way of coping with situations he may have experienced.”I think I was in a shut-down mode, sort of a defensive mechanism.”He plans to follow his instincts and whims when it comes to mapping out his route and he has bought a global broadband card to help him post musings and observations on a blog with the address wanderlustusa.blogspot.comDiSessa said English’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program provided him with discipline and stability, enhanced his sense of patriotism and gave him a sense of camaraderie.He joined the Army and volunteered after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks for deployment to Afghanistan and, later, Iraq. His commanders assigned him to a training unit in Germany and he qualified for intelligence work after taking and passing Army aptitude tests.His training took him to Arizona where he was an instructor specializing in intelligence-gathering computer systems and Washington D.C. where he worked analyzing intelligence information on Syria.”I didn’t have to be a trigger-puller to have an impact,” he said.DiSessa’s not sure what he is going to do after his trip ends.”I’ve thought of everything from taking an intelligence job to joining a police department and writing. I’m really looking at what makes me happy.”