“I remember sitting in my high school classroom watching the ground invasion into Iraq and feeling like I wanted to be there. The patriotism that followed 9/11 was really strong and I knew I wanted to leave home and do something different than the rest of my class. I ended up enlisting in the Army…Read More
“When my parents immigrated from Korea and the Dominican Republic, they felt it was very important for the whole family to have a sense of civic duty and not to have an empty patriotism. In many ways the military was an expectation for me. I joined a reserve special operations capable airborne unit called Anglico….Read More
“I was born and raised in Northeast Minneapolis. I think I had a pretty good childhood, my parents were happily married, my two brothers and I had plenty of kids to play with in a safe neighborhood, where we walked to a small Catholic grade school. My parents were very involved in all of our…Read More
“I moved around a lot as a kid because I was an Army brat. I knew I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps of service so I joined the active duty Army once I got the chance. I did my four years and then decided to transition into the reserves from ‘93 to ‘98….Read More
“I was 19 years old when 9/11 happened. I quit my job in the Bay Area that day and signed up for the Army. I went into the service very unsure of what it would be like, but I knew I wanted to help in any way possible. I signed on to be a forward observer…Read More
“I was a poor kid living in Texas being raised by a single mom. It really pushed me to get out and see the world. I really wanted to go into the military because I had already attained my pilot’s license and had a goal of flying for the military. I was selected to go…Read More
“We had a Navy Lt. Commander come talk to us in high school about ROTC as an option to pay for school, so my twin sister and I both signed up and were accepted. I’m glad we went that route because we had time to go to school, do extra curricular activities, and fulfill our…Read More
“I grew up on eastern Long Island and watched a lot of CHIPS so I knew I wanted to be a pilot or cop. Once I realized how much math was involved to be a pilot, it sealed the deal on becoming a cop. I knew I wanted to do police work but my dad…Read More
“Growing up in Connecticut I never thought I’d follow in my dad’s footsteps of becoming a Marine; however, I fell in love so I decided to skip out on playing baseball and enlist in the Corps. I enlisted in 1995 which was a peaceful time, and it wasn’t too long afterward when things changed. I…Read More
“My one grandfather was a Marine in WWII and the other was in the Army and always told a handful of stories that became family favorites. In coming from that lineage of service, I knew I wanted to serve as well. I originally wanted to be a Marine after seeing that commercial where the guy…Read More