WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The Encyclopedia Britannica defines the American Dream as the ideal that the United States of America is a land of opportunity that allows the possibility of upward mobility, freedom, and equality for people of all classes who work hard and have the will to succeed.
Senior Airman Salchuk A. Gafurov Sr., 445th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron integrated avionics technician, agreed with the description fully, as he’s a U.S. citizen of Turkish descent born in Russia under Soviet Union rule.
During the time of the of the Soviet Union in 1947, the second leader, Joseph Stalin, had ordered their military to forcefully migrate people from the border of Turkey. The migration led to the deaths of people on cargo wagons due to cold weather, hunger, dehydration, and diseases.
Of all his ancestors, only Gafurov’s grandparents survived the migration. His grandfather and grandmother were both young children at the time. They survived, despite adversity, in stations where people were dropped off. Sometime later, Gafurov’s parents were born.
Gafurov said his parents were born in Uzbekistan, which was also under the Soviet Union rule at the time. Once the Soviet Union started falling apart, in the late 1980s, a lot of the countries in the area started gaining their independence.
“Uzbekistan also gained their independence and with a newfound national pride started kicking non-Uzbek people out,” Gafurov said. “Uzbek people at that time started killing and driving away our people from their land.”
He went on to say his entire family ran away from Uzbekistan and ended up in a small village in Russia.
“I was born in 1993 in Russia,” Gafurov said.
The Russian government did not recognize Gafurov’s parents’ Soviet Union passports and, as Gafurov put it, gave them trouble whenever they had the chance.
At some point in time, Gafurov’s mother found out through her sister that the United States was doing an immigration program to allow people affected by disasters a chance to live there. The program was known as the International Organization for Migration. In 2006, his parents applied to the IOM program with the help of his aunt.
“We did not know how life in the U.S. was going to be, but the Russian government was not allowing us to live in peace. So, we had no choice,” Gafurov said.
Gafurov was 12 years old at the time that his family immigrated to the U.S. He said he is glad that his parents decided to take a chance at a better life here. He said he lived in Maryland and Colorado before ending up in Ohio.
Gafurov has achieved a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration through the University of Colorado.
“Through life’s ups and downs, I am glad my family and I ended up where we are today,” Gafurov said. “I hope the future continues to be better than the past and we all live long and healthy lives.