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Gregory L. Cannady’s love for his family and country is surpassed by only one thing: music.
The 1989 graduate of the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts put a promising music career on hold to enlist in the Air Force. When he’s through serving his country, John Cannady said, his son is certain to return to the industry.
Last month, Gregory was deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana to join Operation Iraqi Freedom. All John and his wife Karen know is that their 32-year-old son is stationed somewhere in the Middle East.
Gregory is an instructor and inspector for flight security. He and his staff make sure all the aircraft are secure before they leave the ground. Once that task is complete, Gregory and his team monitor in-flight security.
The young man’s service is a great source of pride to his family, who lives on the 2100 block of Tasker Street.
Whenever Gregory’s parents would visit their son at Barksdale, he would introduce them to his trainees.
"He was very proud of those guys and he wanted them to succeed," John said. "You could see the respect that he got from the trainees. He was more or less a father figure for them."
On Sunday, the airman told his parents he would be incommunicado for a while. Gregory’s military position prevented him from elaborating, explained John.
"We are quite worried. When you don’t hear from him, you wonder what is going on," Karen said. "We are really waiting for him to come home. Like all the other mothers and fathers in the world waiting for their children to come home safe and sound."
The Cannadys take some consolation in knowing that their son will always be stationed on an air base and not fighting on the front lines.
"We felt that he was relatively safe [in Iraq]," John noted.
"Although nothing over there is safe because something could always be put into the air, which would put him in danger."
Gregory and his 24-year-old brother Kevin were born and raised in Point Breeze. Kevin attended Bodine High School for International Affairs and then Temple University.
Both brothers excelled in school. Gregory made meritorious honor roll at CAPA, where he was a vocal major. John proudly recalled Gregory’s musical accomplishments while he was growing up.
The youth sang with the Academy Boys Choir and performed at some rather noteworthy events. Gregory sang for a Russian delegation that visited the United States in 1991, and performed with the Philly Pops at the Academy of Music. At age 17, Gregory performed in the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s production of The Marriage of Figaro. It was only a walk-on part, his father notes, but still quite a coup for a teen.
Gregory attended Knoxville College in Tennessee and, after two years, enlisted in the Air Force, partly to have money for his education. In 1992, he graduated from Air Force basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Karen and John Cannady are world travelers, and took their boys on trips with them. When Gregory and Kevin got older, their parents encouraged them to see the world. "We gave them the traveling bug," John said.
Kevin, a former correspondent for the Review, has traveled to Israel and Africa, among other locales. He also studied at Temple University’s London campus, and went on to work in the radio and public-relations fields.
"Both of them have excelled and I’m grateful. I told them they could do it right here from South Philly," John said. "Both of them have traveled the world. They’ve done South Philly proud."
As he is deployed to exotic locales through the service, Gregory picks up unique gifts for his parents. While stationed in Turkey, he sent home a chess set. From Germany came a beer stein, and oil incense containers from Afghanistan, recalled John. Handmade flasks filled with white and red wine are cherished gifts from Turkistan.
When Staff Sgt. Gregory Cannady comes home on leave to visit his family, he meets up with his many friends in the music business. The airman often finds his way to a karaoke bar, his father said.
"He has a beautiful voice and loves to sing," John added.
If Gregory has his way, he will complete a full 20 years in the Air Force — he’s already more than halfway there at 12 years. But John hopes his son has a change of heart because he believes the world is not getting any safer, particularly for those who have to defend it.
"I don’t see where there’s going to be rest in the world any time soon," he said. "And of course, we want him back home. We miss him, but we support him and all the troops."
John said he hopes that when American soldiers return from Operation Iraqi Freedom, they receive a warmer welcome than the troops who fought in Vietnam.
"They treated them like they didn’t appreciate them," John said.
Karen added: "[The soldiers] are doing a lot for our country — and we appreciate it."
