Alex Williams has always looked for answers. At 18 with parents who haven’t been able to care for him and his five siblings, he has lived most of his life in group homes, with various relatives and in several foster homes. He had attended 11 different schools, including Cherokee High School in Canton, before finally dropping out early in his senior year. “It all just wore me down. I lost any sense of purpose,” Williams said. “I didn’t know what goals to set for myself or where to turn.” He finally decided that a military career was the answer he was looking for. “I wanted discipline in my life, and I thought I could find that in the Marines,” he said. But that was a problem. The U.S. Marine Corps requires all recruits to have a high school diploma or equivalent — no exceptions. With no diploma, no money and no family support, Williams talked to the manager of the group home where he was living. The manager introduced him to Jim Lindenmayer, executive director of the Cherokee County Homeless Veterans Program and American Legion Post 45 service officer, and that’s when everything changed. “Alex wasn’t a veteran, but he was homeless, and this was a young guy who’d had zero breaks in his life and was determined to work to turn things around and really wanted to serve his country," Lindenmayer said. “Our policy is to leave no one behind, and we always want to pay it forward. He’s never really had a family, but the Marines will become his family.” In July, Lindenmayer arranged to pay for Williams to stay at a Canton motel while they worked to meet the Marines’ educational requirement. Rich Sabo, commandant of the Marine Corps League in Cherokee County, recruited former teachers to help Williams prepare for the General Education Development test. Williams passed with a score more than twice the minimum required, and he’s scheduled to start recruit training at Parris Island, S.C., on Aug. 27. Sgt. Daniel Landrum, who runs the Marine recruiting station in Canton, said Williams’ determination and resourcefulness make him exceptional. “When I first talked to him, he had no diploma, no driver’s license, no birth certificate, but he wanted very badly to serve at the highest capacity,” Landrum said. “He’s had very little support in his life, but he’s smart, and he’s a stand-up young man. I have two children of my own, and it’s impressive to find somebody like this.” On Aug. 22, Lindenmayer hosted a luncheon at Rally Point Grille in Woodstock to celebrate Williams’s acceptance into the Marines. While some of the people who helped him fulfill his dream applauded, Williams cut the first slice of a red, white and blue cake with a ceremonial U.S. Marine Corps sword.