DoorDash encounter with Army general inspires hopeful soldier

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — A fresh batch of 923 Army soldiers graduated at Fort Jackson’s Hilton Field this morning, with two soldiers also being recognized for retiring.

After failing her Army entrance exam, PFC Patricia Limbaga says she wasn’t sure she’d ever get to this day. Until she had a chance run in with Brigadier General Richard Harrison.

“This young lady was just about ready to give up her Army journey. And she came by my house to deliver DoorDash. She had 2 Subway sandwiches for my son and I. And I was just backing my truck into the yard, and she got out of the car and walked towards me and said, ‘Oh my God you’re a sign from God,'” says Harrison.

Limbaga says she had asked for a sign to move forward, or find a new direction, and Harrison showed up at exactly the right moment with a path to enlistment.

“And on that afternoon, he was the sign… and it was a clear sign… it was a star sign,” Limbaga says.

Harrison introduced Limbaga to the Army’s Future Soldier Prep Course which helps candidates raise their performances physically or academically so they can enlist.

“We focus on 2 things here. We focus on folks that have academic challenges, test taking skills, they need some more work with that. We teach them how to understand English better, reading better, comprehension, math; and the other half of our course teaches them about nutrition and about sleep and weight loss,” says Harrison.

Limbaga says later she called her recruiter to get more information on the program and in turn found out more about Harrison, not realizing his position within the Army at the time of their initial conversation.

“And my recruiter said, ‘Hey, you met General Harrison, and I was like, ‘Sergeant, (he’s) a general?! And she was like yes!” says Limbaga

BG Harrison traveled from Fort Eustis, VA to see Limbaga graduate.

“She’d been in America for 7 months, and she was trying to get in the Army for 7 months. And she’d been turned away for various things, and I felt like ‘Man, I’ve been given this star for a reason, to help other people — and this young lady was a prime candidate for that,” Harrison says.

Next Limbaga will undergo her AIT (Advanced Individual Training) to learn about her new MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) in the Army.