The Story Behind an Army Hero Getting His Grail Air Jordans

2017 is all about good news. Even though the year is still young, we got a joyful start when a US Army hero was spotted unboxing a pair of the “Bred” Air Jordan 1s that hit stores last year and flew off shelves like Mike from the free throw line. While the pic went viral, who was the soldier getting swagged out and how exactly did it happen?

Meet Nestor Garcia and his brother Berto Garcia. Bros and besties, the two California natives have been joined at the hip since their younger years, always finding something new to bond over. Now that Nestor is in the Army, the two have become separated in distance but still tied together by sneakers. Keeping in touch with each release and surprising themselves with gifts for each other and gifts for their families, find out just how the man in camo came home to his family and a fresh pair of 1s.

Berto Garcia: We were born in Pamona and basically we were there for my first year of life and we moved to Bloomington. We grew up like every other kid in the ’90s but we came from a low income family so we never were able to have brand name shoes. We could either have a pair of expensive shoes or we could feed the whole family for a week so me and my brother basically rocked Payless shoes for the longest time. It wasn’t up until we grew up and had our own lives and jobs that we could splurge a little bit because things aren’t as rough as they used to be.

Nestor Garcia: Me and my brother have always been best friends. We lived together forever but then the army separated us. We found a connection through shoes. Once I joined the army I had a little bit more cash and he showed me the ropes on where to get stuff. Ever since then that’s what we’ve done and how we’ve kept up.

Berto Garcia: We got into Jordans around 2013. My friend Jimmy filled me in on everything. I already knew about Converse, but Jordans to me were something that was unatainable growing up so I never paid much attention to them. Once he schooled me on everything my first pair of Jordans were some VNDS “Aqua” 8s. We bought them off a friend from high school and I fell in love with them. I started telling my brother Nestor about Jordans and we always find stuff to bond on. I filled him in on what I was learning and he told me he really liked the “Bred” 1s. At that time, the “Bred” 1s had just released but we had caught on late and the resale market was crazy. Paying resale was like $400 or $500 at that time, so my brother and I made the 45 minute trip to Flight Club in LA but my brother just couldn’t commit for that price. We thought about growing up poor and not being able to afford stuff like that and just didn’t walk out with them. Ever since then they’ve been his all-time favorite shoe and he’s always wanted them.

Over the course of the years we got our hands on a couple of other releases, but that White Buffalo for my brother was still the “Bred” 1s. That same year, my brother signed up for the army. He went to boot camp, he went to school, and he went to Virginia and finally El Paso. At the beginning of this year, they told him he was going to Kuwait. My mom took it hard and we were all thinking the worst. He’s going a million miles away and all the stuff you see on TV is not positive. So he’s telling us he’s going to be there six months to a year, but all my military buddies are telling me it’ll be more like a year and a half.

Nestor Garcia: When I was in Kuwait, Berto told me about the SNKRS App. Websites would sell out in seconds, but the SNKRS App was a little bit easier even though it was hard out there with the WiFi. New shoes would come out, I’d try to login but reception was bad and I’d miss out on the good ones — mainly the “Bred” 1s.

Berto Garcia: When Nestor was in Kuwait we were still able to communicate through WiFi through the WhatsApp. Pretty much the whole thing that kept him going was, “Did you get this Jordan release? Did you get that Jordan release?” because he couldn’t and I could. He tried several times on the SNKRS App but because of the WiFi he missed out on a lot. The ones that hurt the most were the “Bred” 1s.

The morning those dropped, I woke up and as so as soon as I got the Twitter link I entered The Draw for my size 11 and Nestor entered The Draw for a size 10. He said his app crashed and I woke up and saw that I won The Draw for a size 11. It was crazy! This was the best Jordan that I had ever bought deadstock and not for resale. I’d had “Bred” 11s and “Aqua” 8s but they were all worn and resale. The first thing I thought was, “I got my brother’s favorite shoe, but they’re not in his size.” My mom was like, “You can’t tell him you won!”

He’s overseas and he didn’t hit, and I’m over here basically flaunting at that point. So, I kept it a secret and didn’t tell him I won. I thought about it long enough, “Am I going to wear these or save these for him?” I like to use my stuff, and I swear I wanted to wear them everyday. But I thought about it and he’s over there basically doing everything so we can live the life we want to live here. If it weren’t for what the military is doing we wouldn’t be waking up on Saturdays trying to buy a pair of Js, we’d be trying to do something else.

Right around Christmas time, my brother hit us up and says he was going to be back earlier than expected. He really wanted us to meet him in El Paso. The drive over there is 11 hours so he got us the hotels so we basically had to go. Once it was on, I had to get the size swap. His birthday is in February and Christmas had just passed so I had to get him his grail.

Berto Garcia: I went to 6 Rings Legends, a consignment shop in Riverside, but the owner was out. I tried to get a size swap but they said they weren’t doing size swaps any more. I told the employee the whole story about my brother but he said he couldn’t do it. I walked out of the store super bummed, thinking I was going to El Paso empty handed. I’d built all this up since September!

So, I hit the owner up on Facebook messenger and told him the whole story about my brother, but he didn’t respond — until the last minute Wednesday morning before we left that Thursday. He was so sorry about what happened and said he would size swap it. I was at work so I told my girlfriend to run there. She went, got the size swap, I put in a gift bag, and we drove to El Paso.

We got to my brother and I told him we had something for him. I told him it was from my daughter because he’s always buying my daughter gifts. He opened up the bag, and man, he was in shock. He just couldn’t believe it. The first thing he did was take them out of the box, unlaced his combat boots and put on his Js.

Nestor Garcia: We’d been talking about the “Cyber Monday” 3s so I figured that was what was in the bag. When I opened it up, I was like, “Dammmn, he got me the “Bred” 1s!” I’d been trying ever since the “Banned” 1s with the Xs on the back.

Berto Garcia: When we put it up on social media, I had to tag the sneaker community because these are the people that are really going to appreciate it. The first three hours I got a couple likes here and there, and then in the fourth hour my phone just started going off. I started getting friend requests, people commenting, and a lot of positive things.

That’s why I posted it: so people could feel positive about the situation and that’s what I got in return. There was probably a 150 to 1 troll rate and even the one I just had to laugh off! People were even telling the trolls to get out of there! It made me happy that people were getting so happy off this one picture. Once I saw Complex Sneakers and Sole Collector post it I was like woah! Then I showed my brother when Nice Kicks posted and his army buddies were like, “Is this you!” I’ve been trying to make it in music for ten years and now I post this one photo of my brother and he’s Insta-famous! I’ll have to ask him when he’ll start promoting Fit Tea! [Laughs]

We were reading all the Instagram comments and we were just laughing because everybody was saying, “But where do I get that outfit though?” You know how they have the Steal this Look Meme with like Hank Hill and the expensive clothes? We’re gonna do that for him. Everybody thought his pants were Bathing Ape and his military boots were Yeezy 950s! [Laughs]

Nestor Garcia: Everybody was digging the army pants with the Jordans. A lot of people the next day at work were like, “Hey, you’re famous! We saw you all over Instagram and Facebook.” It was a crazy experience. We come from a small town so it’s not something we’re used to.

Berto Garcia: My brother hit me up the other day and he says everybody keeps coming up to him saying he saw the photo. My girlfriend said it was the same for her at work. People don’t get sneakerheads and why they go crazy over shoes but when they see a moment like that they get it.

Nestor Garcia: Since getting the “Bred” 1s, I’ve been babying them. Usually I rock my shoes until the soles fall off but these are different. Still, I’m going to get some good use from them. They meant a lot to me. It was a good feeling coming home, knowing that your family hasn’t forgotten about you and what you like. It goes way beyond the shoes, it shows that you’re always on your family’s mind 24/7 just like they’re on yours.

Berto Garcia: When I posted the picture, I wanted everybody to see that the littlest thing like a pair of shoes to somebody that spent six months out of the country makes a world of difference. Like look, this is my brother, he was just over there, and he came home and this is making him happy and this made it all worth it.