Off in the distance I heard a distinct sound — the metallic blades cutting through the air. Could this finally be it? Was this really happening? I touched my face to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. I was 20 years old, and I was nearing the end of my first deployment. As the helicopter … Read more
When I first arrived in Saudi Arabia, I didn’t know what to expect. I was fresh out of the Air Force and starting my new job as a private military contractor. Because of my background in aircraft fabrication, I had been hired by the Royal Saudi Air Force to help support their jet fighter program. … Read more
My mother sat across from me at her kitchen table. The kitchen table had always been the location where we talked and shared the things going on in both of our lives. When I was fourteen years old, she was sitting at the kitchen table when I shared with her that I had had my … Read more
In September of 2010, I shipped off to Marine Corps basic training in San Diego. I was in the best physical shape of my life, as I was a cross country runner in high school. I was ready for any PT that they would throw at me. However, I was not ready for the mental … Read more
Leaving Sigonella Airbase, Sicily, in my rented Fiat sub-compact I turned right on Strada Statale 192, toward Catania. As I was driving down the highway, I thought back to the events from that morning: I arrived at 0700 to muster for what was supposed to be my flight back to the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. … Read more
In October of 2012, I was an international college student facing deportation for failing two classes. Twenty two years old, living in my parents’ loft, aimless in academics, and frustrated in competitive Brazilian-Jiu jitsu. When the U.S. Army advertised through the LA Times that they had the need for Filipinos who spoke the Tagalog language, … Read more
Just after a month of being downrange in Balad, Iraq, in 2006, where I was a Combat Flight Medic, I received a wounded Marine via Medivac. I immediately noticed his praying hands, which were wrapped with a rosary and resting on his left pectoral. Upon further inspection, I saw that his body was riddled with … Read more
“That’s probably a good idea,” the judge said to me when I handed him the letter from the Army recruiter asking for leniency so that I could enlist. “Your enlistment in the military would benefit the community,” he continued. At the time, I thought that was a really cool thing to hear in a courtroom. … Read more
I didn’t have much contact with those not serving in the Marine Corps while on my deployment, but one person who remains in my memory is the man from the honey truck. The honey truck was the name given to the large truck that showed up a few times a week, in order to pump … Read more
The dim headlights of my pickup strained against the darkness of the moonless night, but they did little to illuminate the dirt road ahead. The needle on the speedometer moved higher and higher, and with every bump and rattle beneath the wheels, I felt a jolt of adrenaline surge through my body. I didn’t know … Read more