Texas Acrobat Joel Chaverri Weds
Yesterday (March 15, 2008) it was my great joy to watch Joel Chaverri and Jacquie Palmer recite their wedding vows outdoors at the Old City Park at Dallas Heritage Village. The weather was beautiful and joyous spunk was in the ceremony. At the point that the pastor asked the question, "Does anyone have any reason to object to the union of this couple?" Jacquie, with an impish grin, turned her gaze from Joel and scanned the audience with a look that said, "Don't anyone dare!" Watching them together, I had a confident sense that these two would stay together for the rest of their lives.
Texas Acro is in the business of promoting acrobatics, but it is also in the business of aiding parents in the adult growth of their children. So watching the wedding ceremony yesterday, brought this truth home. Texas Acrobatics began in 1997, which is enough time for a generation to enter adulthood already. Joel Chaverri is a case in point. Joel joined Trevino's Acro Team in Dallas back in 2000. He was a teenager who loved to juggle and clown around. He visited our open gym and juggled some blocks. I gave him some old Juggle Bug plastic pins to take home. He came back with his best friends, Kevin Dean and Mike Graves. They joined my Acro Team to learn acrobatics and circus arts. They were rank beginners. A younger brother of a current team mate, Drew Gilbert came in to the program so I had a Men's Four to train.
Through personal circumstances Kevin Dean had to withdraw from the Men's 4, which left the three boys without a partner. That meant that I, a 48 year old man, had to lose weight and train again to complete the quad. I joined a fitness gym, starved myself for the year, and completed the season at the Dayton Nationals in 2001. At the awards stand the late Raymond Beard looked up at me and quipped, "What's an old man like you doin up here?" Until that point I had felt good about my weight loss and training. It was a clear reminder that I had passed my prime. Looking at photos I see the gut that never went away.
Nonetheless, we earned the gold medal for our routine and the boys went to Nationals. Regrettably they all retired after that season. Drew would have stayed on, but he did not want to be the only boy in the program. Kevin married his girlfriend (I went to that wedding), Joel and Mike graduated high school. I went to his graduation ceremony. Then Joel joined the Marines and was sent to Iraq.
The Marine Corp officer training taught him how to operate and take digital photographs. So on assignment in Fallujah, Joel was a war correspondent for the Marines. Joel earned national recognition for photographing a sniper fire upon his fellow soldiers. Even today, if you Google his name, you will find many articles documenting this event. In 2005 his photographs went on national tour. I had the chance to see them at the Frontiers of Flight Aviation Museum at Love Field Airport in Dallas on Memorial Day weekend.
The Memorial Weekend holiday began as a time of remembrance of the soldiers who died in the Civil War. At this time we remember all those patriotic young men and women who have died to protect our freedoms.
It was providential that Joel’s unit was stationed in Falluja, Iraq during the outbreak of violence in November 2004. Joel sent pictures and news to the Marine Newspaper. In one incredible moment a fellow marine had been shot crossing a street in Falluja. Without hesitation, another soldier ran out to rescue the fallen combatant. In that instant, Joel set aside his rifle and aimed his camera to document the rescue. A medic darted out to aid the second soldier who was also shot at. The medic could not risk being shot, too, so he went back to cover. The two marines lay dead on the street at that moment. Joel photographed the entire effort and wrote an elegant article describing the story.
That series of photos and the article won him the Thomas Jefferson Award for Photo Journalism. Along with that honor, his work was displayed at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. His photographs capture the whole experience of the grief, fears, and even moments of joy on the campaign.
After viewing a video montage of his photos accompanied by a recording of Marines singing, Joel answered questions for the audience and the press. Because his last name is so hard to pronounce, the soldiers nicknamed him, "Kodak".
He said that as a photojournalist he is always a Marine first. That means he carries his rifle and his camera into the field, and is expected to participate in combat maneuvers as well as to document the action. When asked if he found it awkward to switch from rifle to camera, he smiled sheepishly, and simply said, "Yes".
Joel trained with me for three years. We aren’t training just for acrobatics, but we are training the kids to be responsible adults. This is one example. Joel came to me as a high school student and left us as a young adult. But now, Joel is more than just an adult. Joel is both a man, a hero and a husband.