NFL draft provides special moment for family of South Effingham High's Karistopher Gadsden

GUYTON – Karistopher Gadsden says there was a time when he couldn’t understand how his father had been taken from him.

Karistopher heard the story, how U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Clifford Valentino Gadsden, leading a convoy traveling from Bagdad to Kuwait, was hit by a roadside bomb; how 17 years ago on April 29, 2005, his dad died serving his country.

“Usually, you don’t have someone you can relate to,” said the South Effingham High School senior. “As a kid, I didn’t know another kid who had lost a parent.”

The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a national non-profit veterans service organization, helped a grieving Karistopher. And TAPS kept his father’s memory alive by honoring the fallen soldier at the NFL draft in Las Vegas. Karistopher and the Gadsden family were invited to the draft, and Karistopher’s grandmother Minerva Gadsden read the name of the Atlanta Falcons’ second-round pick, linebacker Arnold Ebiketie of Penn State.

“It was all kind of unreal,” Karistopher said. “We waited behind the stage until they called us and (NFL commissioner) Roger Goodell talked about my father and the crowd started chanting, “USA, USA, USA.” That was pretty cool.”

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Karistopher, who also ran cross country, played soccer, and ran a leg on the Mustangs’ 4x800 relay team, was about 6 years old when he attended a TAPS camp in Washington, D.C., along with about 600 other children who had lost loved ones in the military.

Suddenly, he wasn’t alone.

“When I was way younger, it affected me more because I didn’t know how to deal with it,” Karistopher said. “It was difficult to adjust until I went (to camp) with TAPS. Then I was able to settle with it and understand my emotions.”

Through TAPS, Karistopher said he has met former U.S. president Barack Obama, visited Arlington National Cemetery and attended Falcons games.

“It means a lot, TAPS, setting up all those events and helping kids with the grieving process,” Karistopher said.

Karistopher readily talks about his father now. Clifford Valentino Gadsden played football in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., (Choctawhatchee High School) and attended South Carolina State University, where he joined ROTC before joining the army.

Karistopher said friends and family say he looks just like his father.

“My family has kept (my father’s) memory strong,” Karistopher said “There are pictures, stories. We do cookouts in his name. My mom talks to me about him all the time.”

Karistopher learned his father loved cars, and the family has kept his father’s beloved Crown Victoria running in his honor after all these years.

“(Friends) say he was very charismatic, always smiling,” Karistopher said. “He was a leader and everyone liked him. We still get calls today (saying) it was great to serve with (Clifford Gadsden).”

In a few weeks, Karistopher will graduate from South Effingham with honors (a 3.7 grade-point average). He plans to attend the University of Central Florida and eventually join the Air Force with hopes of being a pilot.

“I haven’t been scared to go into the military,” Karistopher said.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: South Effingham High School track athlete's dad honored at NFL draft