People from home tell me often I’ve lost my accent. But then I’ll run into someone that will comment on my charming southern accent. I try to keep my accent because it’s a good reminder of home. On the surface I never really wanted to leave my home it was comfortable and familiar. But I was stagnant – I needed to leave. After my first two years in DC I realized it was the best thing for me. I am who I am meant to be – the world is a huge place. It’s nice being a citizen of the world. However, I will always love my home, Shreveport, Louisiana.

Cumberland, Kentucky

"…Ah thought Ah’d never leave Cumberland. But now that Ah’ve been around the world and even in space, Ah realized how much this place means to me.” - Cannonball*

Samuel Zachary Guthrie, Sam for short, is a mutant that can fly at super fast speeds. While flying he is incased with an impregnable force field and is unstoppable. When Charles Xavier, Professor X, approached Sam to become a student at the Xavier Institute, Sam took the name “Cannonball”. Sam has been a member of the New Mutants, X-Men, X-Force and others. He has traveled the world and outer space but deep down he is just a country boy at heart.

Raise your hand if you grew up in a small rural community? These communities leave marks on our soul. They are good and they are bad. But they are home. No matter where we live now there is a place we grew up. Even if our parents traveled a lot and we never had a place to call “home” there are places that touched our souls. No matter where you are from, Bastrop, Louisiana or Meissen, Germany these small communities will leave lasting marks on our heart. They will hold special places in our hearts because of the lessons we learned from these communities. For whatever reason, good or bad, these communities put us on the positive path we are on now – honor them for that and never forget where you came from..

Cannonball
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel, #4, The New Mutants (December 1982)

Creators: Chris Claremont (Writer) & Bob McLeod (art)

*X-Force, “Homefront”, #83 (November 1998)