PEABODY — Staff Sgt. Edi Zaimovic, 27, who now works as a U.S. Army recruiter in Peabody, credits the United States military with saving his life.
“I don’t know if I would be alive without everything the country has done,” said Zaimovic.
When he was a very young child in Bosnia-Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War of the 1990s, his small mountain town came under siege from mortar and sniper fire, placing civilian lives at risk.
The attackers’ route into the town led over a solitary bridge. Peace-keeping forces, led by U.S. military units, destroyed the bridge before the attackers could reach the town, saving townspeople.
“Luckily we had that to protect us,” said Zaimovic. “Some other towns weren’t so fortunate.”
His family remained in Bosnia for the duration of the war, then resettled in Kentucky, where Zaimovic grew up.
“We were refugees after the war. Due to the genocide, my parents needed to get away from all that,” he said.
He was drawn to the military after graduating high school, and he enlisted in the Army as an information technology specialist.
“When I was 16, I knew I wanted to join the Army and give back to the country that gave me so much,” he said. “I graduated from high school and started working towards enlisting.”
After being stationed in Anchorage, Alaska and Fort Campbell, Ky., he moved to Peabody three months ago to work as the new recruiter.
“I’m a very outgoing person and love talking to people,” he said. “My favorite part of my job as a recruiter is setting them up for their career, talking about benefits and opportunities, and being able to see how joining the Army can change someone’s life.”
He said that he had always wanted the chance to come to New England and is glad to get the chance to see the places where “history was made.”
He also recently completed a general education Associate’s degree, which was paid for by the U.S. Army. He wants to forge a career in international relations, possibly working in the State Department.
“It’s great,” he said. “I can serve this country as well as being able to pay for college.”
