Source: Handout / Getty
It’s a known fact that Brian Cushing, the Houston Texans outside linebacker comes from a military background family.
Cushing has many ties to something military… his great-great uncle, Alonzo Cushing goes back to the Civil War and last year his uncle even received a posthumous Medal of Honor for being a War Hero.
Cushing’s father, Frank Cushing, was an intelligence officer in the Vietnam War. During the war, his father was stationed in Germany, where Cushing’s mom was born.
A small background on his mother’s family, Cushing’s mother, Antoinette Lukaszewicz was born in 1944 in a Nazi war camp. His mother and her immediate family were survivors of the reign of Nazi dictatorship over the German Jewish communities.
Cushing said, “My grandfather never really learned English so anything I talked to him about (was) mainly through translations from my mom. Definitely some interesting stories. He struggled with a lot of things. The war-torn country and being moved. A lot of his family was taken away from him. I know he never saw his mother again after they moved away from Poland. He never saw her again. Just a very mentally damaging time… Just definitely grateful for the sacrifices they made.”
The Nazis regime brought radical and daunting economic, and changes against the German Jewish community from the years 1933-1939.
The Lukaszewickz is that their family was moved to Nazi forced labor camp outside of Cologne, Germany. Cushing recalls the story his mom told him about playing in the camps as a child and she even has pictures from those days still with her.
Cushing said, “There were way more nationalities and races than just Jewish people in the war cams. They were Polish, but luckily they survived. She was born right before World War II ended. Quickly after that her father relocated them to the United States.”
When his family emigrated to the United States after they survived the Nazi war camps in the early 1950’s, Cushing said, “They didn’t really bring anything with them. Just their clothes on their back and maybe a suitcase and some small belongings.”
His mom speaks multiple languages, she speaks Polish, German, Russian and English and all done in a New Jersey accent.
What if Cush didn’t play football? “I always had an infatuation withe the Air Force when I was growing up,” he said. “The first school that recruited me was Navy, so I definitely thought that was a possibility. But as more time came on and bigger schools started recruiting me, my dad pushed me into that area. Wanted a different lifestyle for me.”
Brian Cushing started a Foundation, the Brian Cushing Foundation to help the people who served, his website says, “The mission of the Brian Cushing Foundation is to serve and honor the men and women who protect our country by providing resources and experiences to Houston-area veterans and their families.”
Brian and his wife participated in Operation Holiday Hope… this was where he took families to dinner and a shopping trip at Wal-Mart.
Via:espn.com
