Iraq, Germany and R&B: The unlikely tale of an ICC maintenance man

EAST PEORIA — Walking through the halls of ICC, one sees many faces and without giving it a second thought, walks on. When we take the time to meet the person behind the face, we find that someone always has something interesting about themselves. Case in point: DeMarcus McNeil. On top of working at ICC, he is currently studying HVAC. However, prior to joining ICC, DeMarcus’ life could not have been any more different.

In May of 2001, DeMarcus graduated Woodruff High School in Peoria. After just turning 18, he joined the Army with the intention to play basketball for their college team. He could not have predicted that three months later, on Sept. 11, 2001, his future in the army would require of him more than just his basketball skills.

“In August, I was in basic training,” he said, “and the next month, 9/11 happens and my heart just dropped. I went in for college and basketball but the war stopped all that.”

After serving two years at Ft. Hood, DeMarcus finds himself in Frankfort, Germany, where he is preparing to be deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This invasion was the precursor for what is now known as the Iraq War.
A civilian’s reality of war is formed from what is seen in movies; however, being in the midst of the fight and living it on a daily basis became the norm for DeMarcus.

“First three months you are pretty scared,” said DeMarcus. “After six months, you are comfortable being there. Eight months in, you live there, I knew people there and I knew my way around.”

DeMarcus was part of the 1st Armored Division Unit, which was designated to occupy Baghdad. The objective of the war was to oust the government of Saddam Hussein, which meant to take over the government buildings.

“As soon as we got there,” he said, “we had to clear everyone out and we fought pretty much the whole time. The first place we guarded was the Ministry of Oil, which was ironic. I didn’t know it then because they didn’t tell us, but I found out afterwards.”

In November of 2005, DeMarcus was transferred back to Frankfort, Germany as his Iraqi tour was ending and he was being discharged. But rather than catching his assigned flight back to the U.S., he decided to stay in Germany. Able to speak German and a bit of Arabic, he got a civilian job at his old Army base and began to develop a career in, of all things, music.

When DeMarcus began making a splash on the rap and R&B scene in Germany, he decided to enlist the help of an old Army buddy, Michael Williams, to make a music video. This was a turning point for both of them.

The video made DeMarcus more renown for his music, but it also made Williams a sought-after videographer. Seeing a great business opportunity to work together, they joined operations and started a company together.

“It’s called Trappa Films Productions, and you can Google that or look it up on Facebook. It has plenty of followers and a variety of videos from music to activist-type things. [Michael] just goes to everything he can and puts a stamp on it,” he said.

DeMarcus used his network in the German music scene to feed clients to his new filming partner, and between the two of them, they developed all of the attention and “VIP” access that they could want in Germany. However, after a few years, DeMarcus decided that he wanted to return to the States and learn a few things that may, in the end, take him back to Germany.

“I was the monetary part and [Michael] was the brains, so to speak. He knows how to work all of the equipment. That’s why I originally came back to school to study multimedia,” DeMarcus said, “so we could partner up and I could help him out with the equipment and everything.”

“He’s still doing the films; he’s still running the company, and that’s going pretty good. He’s done some TV shows over there and he’s done a film over there. How widespread it is, I don’t know, but for him it’s a pretty living and the company’s going pretty good. We started from nothing … that’s an accomplishment.”

DeMarcus is content to stick around ICC for now and continue his education. He and another Army friend, Gregory Britton, continue to be active financial partners in the German company, but, some day, DeMarcus may just get pulled back into the exotic lifestyle of a German R&B artist. Until then, he can be seen helping to keeping the East Peoria Campus in tip-top shape.