Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes
In a world where storytelling has been our link to the past since the days of cave drawings, there exists a timeless tradition. It's the art of passing down knowledge, and for Military Veterans, it's a crucial piece of their legacy. Join us on the Veterans Archives Podcast, where we dive deep into the heartwarming and awe-inspiring stories of those who served, no matter when or where.
Here, Veterans get the chance to be the authors of their own narratives. Through guided interviews in a relaxed and safe environment, they paint their experiences with their own words and unique voices. The result? A memory card in a presentation box, a precious gift they can share however they please.
But that's not all. These stories find a secure home in our archive, a treasure chest of experiences for future generations to explore. The best part? It's all a gift to the Veteran – our way of saying thank you for their service.
Tune in to the Veterans Archives Podcast, where history, heroism, and heartwarming tales come to life.
Veterans Archives is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Please visit our website for more information. www.veteransarchives.org
Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes
Navy Corpsman: From Combat Medic to Civilian Life (Kevin Martin)
Kevin Martin's story is one of transformation, resilience, and the enduring search for purpose that defines the veteran experience. As a Navy Corpsman who served in Afghanistan's dangerous Helmand Province, Kevin offers listeners a candid glimpse into both the intensity of combat medicine and the profound challenges of returning home.
The conversation takes us from Kevin's early days working in his father's bicycle shop to his decision to join the Navy as a SEAL candidate. Though injury redirected his military path, Kevin found his calling as a Corpsman – becoming the "Doc" responsible for the lives of 40 Marines during deployment. His vivid descriptions of treating wounded comrades, navigating desert sandstorms, and even dealing with Marines who staged scorpion fights out of boredom paint a multidimensional picture of modern warfare.
Most revealing is Kevin's startling admission that he didn't want to return from Afghanistan. "Life was just easier over there," he explains. "You wake up every morning, you know exactly what you're doing, you know who the enemy is." This clarity of purpose stands in stark contrast to the ambiguity of civilian life, where Kevin struggled through various jobs – from Domino's assistant manager to insurance agent – before finding more stable footing in HVAC and building automation.
Throughout the episode, Kevin articulates what many veterans experience but few can express: military service as a "double-edged sword" that offers unmatched purpose but creates a void upon return. His ongoing educational pursuits and dedication to his family – particularly his reunion with his high school sweetheart who now helps him manage the invisible wounds of war – demonstrate how veterans forge new paths forward while carrying their experiences with them.
Whether you're a veteran, family member, or someone seeking to understand the military experience, this conversation offers profound insights into how war changes those who serve and the lifelong journey of finding peace with the person they've become.
Today is Friday, september 19th 2025. We're talking with Kevin Martin, who served in the United States Navy. So good afternoon, kevin, how you doing Great. We're going to start off really easy. When and where were you born?
Speaker 2:September 19th 1988, detroit, michigan.
Speaker 1:Well, happy birthday Nice. The same age as my son actually. That's kind of funny, so did you live?
Speaker 2:in Detroit then Kind of bounced around a little bit when I was real young. I remember being in Farmington for a few years, Southfield for between six and eight years, and then we moved out to gregory in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 1:That's where I lived until I graduated high school okay, so about what age were you when you moved out to gregory? Seventh grade okay, that wonderful time in life, yeah. So what can you tell me about growing up as a kid? Did you have brothers and sisters?
Speaker 2:The half sister is about a year older than me. Um then, my baby sister is four years younger than me.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're the middle kid. Yes, you fall into that uh category. You think pretty well Um.
Speaker 2:I mean, my half sister didn't live with us except for maybe about a year, so really I was kind of just the older brother, I see.
Speaker 1:And what was it like growing up for you what?
Speaker 2:do you remember South field? A lot of riding my bike around the neighborhood. My grandparents lived five blocks from us, so every day after school I was riding my bike over there hanging out with grandpa. He was army as well, so golf balls, model airplanes, model trains. As I got older, started getting into firearms. That was more after I joined the service, though.
Speaker 1:So did you always like working with your hands and your and your mind. It sounds like, did you?
Speaker 2:always like working with your hands. In your mind it sounds like yeah, I mean, my first job was working for my dad. He owned a bicycle shop. So from the time I was 14, I was a mechanic.
Speaker 1:Okay. Did you enjoy working for your dad or did you have to work for your dad?
Speaker 2:I always wonder. I enjoyed it. He kind of put a, he kind of designed his own little um chain of command for me that way I wasn't reporting directly to him. So he made sure to put that separation in there. So nobody thought that I was getting favoritism or anything, so I didn't mind it.
Speaker 1:Okay, and what was school like for you? Not that good, huh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually played hockey a lot growing up. I think between eight and ten years I played hockey, most of which as a goaltender. Parents actually pulled me and just cause my grades kept slipping. I wasn't exactly a academic in high school. Uh, I think my guidance counselor from the high school I graduated from still uses me as an example of what not to do in my senior year Just to graduate on time. I had to get 12 out of eight possible credits to make sure I graduated on time.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you were a cautionary tale when you left. Pretty much, yeah. And do you have any favorite subjects in school though?
Speaker 2:Math science, computers probably computers most of all. I did vocational school, or career center, they called it. My junior year I was in an electronics program and then my senior year I was in the computer repair program, so I had computer certification before I even graduated high school oh, okay, all right.
Speaker 1:What about friends? Did you have a lot of friends in school?
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say a lot, but quality over quantity yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 1:And so you, uh, you go through school, you graduate. It sounds like barely yeah so what? So what happens next?
Speaker 2:Signed my contract before I turned 18. Got in a little trouble with my now wife actually, because she was underage at the time. But yeah, really just kind of slacked around, got into trouble until I shipped off to boot camp.
Speaker 1:How long were you in delayed entry? Six months, long enough to get in trouble. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I was a SEAL candidate so I was real delayed because I had to go through all the pre-pipeline stuff.
Speaker 1:Now, even though you signed up for that, that's not like guaranteed, is it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was guaranteed in my contract. I mean, I had to go through boot camp, go through buds, the whole nine yards, but I ended up getting hurt so I had to drop out of the seal program oh okay, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, before we get there, though. So uh, do you remember when you shipped out like when you went to basic training? February 6 2007 okay and talk to me a little about about what it was like to arrive there. First of all, where did you go?
Speaker 2:to basic, uh, great lakes, illinois, north of chicago, about 40 minutes okay um was. We were the first bus to show up for our class, and I guess they weren't expecting us yet.
Speaker 1:So wow surprise, we're here yeah, pretty much and much. And what was that like for you? Did you know what to expect or were you taken by surprise by anything?
Speaker 2:I mean I had watched some videos on like Marine Corps boot camp and stuff like that. But I mean, obviously I didn't really know what to expect, but I knew it was going to be a lot of mind games, you know, a lot of yelling at you, you doing opposite orders to see what would happen, and as a SEAL candidate at the time I was probably in the best shape of my life anyway. So you know, when they tried to beat us and a couple of us who were all special operations guys, we just made a game out of it what do you remember most about basic training?
Speaker 2:We were one of the lucky divisions that had to do battle stations twice. Um, battle stations is like the final exercise. It's similar to the, you know, the crucible for Marines and things like that. But yeah, we because us and our brother division were the first group of our graduating class to finish running battle stations for the old style. The old style, you literally had to run around the whole base doing the different exercises at different points. But because we were the first ones to finish, they decided, oh well, you guys can try out the new battle stations. So we had to go into the new. They basically had a mock ship built up that we had to go in there and test that one out, for a night too.
Speaker 1:So we got to do battle stations twice so here's a reward for a job well done. Yeah, pretty much in the end. So how was graduation for you? Did your uh family show up?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, uh, mom dad, sister, I think that was it.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. Well, I'm pretty proud of you for getting through. Oh yeah, okay. And so you must have graduated what? February, march, right around April timeframe? Yep, all right. And then what happens next? Yep, all right. And then what?
Speaker 2:happens next? I start going through the pipeline for SEAL got hurt, switched over to EOD, found out I was claustrophobic underwater, so I ended up crossing over to Corman.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's quite a change.
Speaker 2:Yep. So basically, when I left the pipeline for special operations community, they basically told me I could either go undesignated, which is basically jobless you do all the random crap that nobody else wants to do Right or I could go Corman. I was like, well, corman, those guys, that's medical right that nobody else wants to do Right. Or I could go corpsman. I was like, well, corpsman, those guys, that's medical right. Yeah, they go to combat, yeah, I'll do that. So there you go.
Speaker 1:Not a tough choice then for you, no? So where was your corpsman? A school at Great Lakes, oh, oh. So you got to see the world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, so you got to see the world. Yeah, right, so yeah, I literally just went across the street yeah, and how long were you there, do you remember? I'm gonna say about core school was about five months okay.
Speaker 1:Is there anything about, um, about that school that sticks out in your mind when you think back?
Speaker 2:man, I know it's a bunch of just another school. You know they're trying to screw with you mentally still and, yeah, trying to get through and get the. At the time it was 13 tests. I don't know what it is anymore, but you know, by test 13, you know most of us are, you know highest stage of liberty so we can go out all night or whatever. But I know, studying for test 13, a group of us would uh, go out the gate across the street to the bus, to the train station, jump in a cab, go get white castle we'd each get a crave case of you know 30 burgers and come back and start studying again pounding those yeah, you know, a lot of people don't know about white castle burgers, but yeah I still think they're the best.
Speaker 1:oh, yeah're awesome. I think they're made out of rat meat, but they taste great. I'm not going to lie, I went to Great Lakes as well. Not for basic but for my A school, Okay. I remember that we had a deal Like if you scored 90 or above on your test on Friday, you can leave at noon.
Speaker 2:And so I would study really hard, because then I would hop the train and come back to michigan every weekend. Yeah, I came back a couple times on the train, but I you know amtrak they're so reliable. Yeah, I think the fastest I ever got back was four hours later than I was supposed to yeah, good times, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:So you, uh, you get done with your a school and and, uh, where do you go next?
Speaker 2:uh, us naval hospital yukosuka, japan okay, what was japan like?
Speaker 1:tell me about that.
Speaker 2:I loved it I mean, when you first get there, you got to go through a one week indoctrination so that they can, you know, show you the ins and outs of japan. And the last day they give you a token for the train and they basically tell you go get lost. So you got a group of four of us. You know like, yeah, do we want to go here? Do we want to go check this out? What do we want to do?
Speaker 2:I think we decided to go see kamakura temple and the great buddha. They were within a couple kilometers of each other, only a couple train stops away. But we get off the train and they give you this little dummy card that says in English and in kanji hey, I'm an American, help me, I'm lost. Right, please don't take my money. Yeah, I didn't really have to worry about that a lot over there. Yeah, but we're walking, we get a couple blocks and we're like we have no idea where we're going. And we pull out our dummy card and show it to this nice old Japanese lady that's walking by and she's like oh hi, we're like great Buddha, oh Buddha, hi, hi. Like oh, hi, we're like great buddha, oh buddha, hi, hi. And she literally grabs one of our arms and walks us like six blocks to the great buddha, before turning around and walking right back the direction she was initially going.
Speaker 1:It's like that never would have happened in america that's awesome though yeah, the culture over there is phenomenal yeah, and did you find that quite often while you were there that people treated you really well?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, they're very anti-confrontation over there. Yeah, a whole different standard of honor. I know when I was over there we had an issue with a guy on one of the ships stabbed a cab driver. We had an issue with a guy on one of the ships stabbed a cab driver and the admiral had to literally go in front of the family with the prime minister and literally hold a bow until they relieved him.
Speaker 1:Just the amount of honor over there is. I miss it. Yeah, I can tell just by the way you're talking about it. It must have been a great experience. What kinds of things did you do at the Naval Hospital there? What were some of your duties?
Speaker 2:I was a EMT in the emergency department there.
Speaker 1:Okay. So that could be kind of busy, can't it?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, my first day there. I'm in my dress blues and I go do a bunch of my check-in stuff and my HM1 at the time he's like well, I don't really have anything else for you at this point, so why don't you go down to the ER and introduce yourself? I walk in, I'm in my dress blues, and there's people running all over the place. I'm like I am HA Martin. At the time they're like you're the new guy. I was like, yeah. They're like take this pen, take this notebook. I'm like what am I doing? They're like write down everything you see. I'm like what are you talking about? Code blue? I'm like, oh crap. So I literally walk into a cardiac arrest as soon as I'm walking in to check in. So I'm like, well, talk about getting thrown into the deep end.
Speaker 1:Welcome to your new job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, pretty much.
Speaker 1:And how long were you?
Speaker 2:there I was in the ER from October 2007 through February 2009. And then I got transferred to an outlying clinic up in Nogishi, japan. Okay, like five or six of us were on a base of one, two, three like four buildings, one of them being the barracks. It was literally a housing base, so we just did all the uh patient care for, you know, any of the uh active duty members that may be up there, or their families really but I got transferred up there to basically run their ambulance department okay, and how about?
Speaker 1:how long were you? Did you do that for?
Speaker 2:uh february 09 until I uh pcs'd in december of 09 okay, so you?
Speaker 1:So you PCS'd? Where'd you go from Japan?
Speaker 2:I went to Camp Pendleton, california, for field med, field medical service training.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So that I can do my training for the Marines.
Speaker 1:All right. So for anyone listening to or watching this right now, camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base yeah, yeah. So how long was that training watching this right now, camp Pendleton is a Marine Corps base yeah, so how long was that training? Were they just trying to acclimate you to the Marine Corps, or what was that all about?
Speaker 2:So it's basically to teach you. It's basically a mini boot camp for the Marine Corps that also does some field medicine training. You know above what they teach in core school and what you would learn in a hospital.
Speaker 1:Okay, and how long were you in that training?
Speaker 2:That was an eight-week course.
Speaker 1:So was there anything in there that sticks out in your mind, anything that?
Speaker 2:you found surprising or different from what you had been doing, definitely a totally different animal than the hospital being with the Marines. Um, you know, you wake up on the first day and all of a sudden it's like you're back in bootcamp. Everybody's screaming at you. You can't do anything, right. It's like um, e4, why are you screaming at me right now? You're nothing. Okay, here we go again.
Speaker 1:Yep Very familiar. Yep Was familiar. Yep Was that? Was that difficult for you, you know, having been in Japan, having had responsibilities there, to come back and kind of be treated that way?
Speaker 2:How'd you respond to that. It was different, but it's part of the part of the game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's true and then? So what happens next? Where do you go from there?
Speaker 2:uh camp lejeune, north carolina. Uh second medical battalion okay, and what?
Speaker 1:what were some of your responsibilities there?
Speaker 2:none I absolutely that. That was probably my least favorite duty station. Um, as soon as you check in, really the only thing they care about is you getting your warfare pin. So it's really just study for that, and I mean it's medical battalion and garrison. There's nothing to do. So it's literally listen to people yell at you to get paperwork done when there's only you know, five computers for the entire company, but so you can't do anything and they won't let you do any special assignments because you don't have your pin yet. So basically I had to sit around for a couple months until I got a deployment billet okay, and where'd you deploy to?
Speaker 2:afghanistan, helmand province, camp leatherneck and was that a?
Speaker 1:so that's marine. So was that a six or a nine month tour?
Speaker 2:uh, nine month okay so talk to me about what it was like when you first got there um, I mean going through workups I talked to a lot of, because I didn't deploy with med, battalion um, I deployed with combat logistics, battalion eight. So you know, I had guys in my platoon that had deployed before. So I was, you know, just trying to get as much information from them as to what to expect. And going over there as a line corpsman you've got 40 Marines that you're in charge of their lives, basically. So it's definitely a whole different sense of responsibility at 22 years old.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's kind of young to have that sort of responsibility. Yeah, and you were there. So what year is it that you were in?
Speaker 2:2011 January through September Okay.
Speaker 1:And, having deployed myself, there's no such thing as a typical day ever, but can you kind of walk me through what it was like on a daily basis there?
Speaker 2:um, I mean for the first couple months. Um, I mean for the first month really, we were doing turnover with the battalion we were taking over for, so getting the trucks ready, um, doing some training missions with them. Uh, for me, making sure everybody had their small Mojave Viper. I had to make sure everybody had their smallpox vaccines and everything. So making sure they were all medically good to go when you get over there. It's making sure they're all taking their malaria pills, basically just getting ready to go to work, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yep, and then so you got. You got there, uh, and now you're you're working um.
Speaker 2:Talk to me about, uh, what you did with Marines uh, with CLBA it was a lot of um praying for convoys so we were doing logistics across the desert to different fobs. Um, for a couple weeks I got tasked out with a ground pound unit um to offer support while they got another corpsman to fill in for somebody. So I had to fill in until they got another guy over there. But yeah, two completely different ballgames between the ground pounders and the logistics, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, was it pretty busy yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean we were in a hot zone, so Helmand Province. There's a lot of training facilities there for the Taliban. So pretty much I won't say every, but most of our missions there was some sort of action Right.
Speaker 1:Right Did you guys have a lot of injuries, casualties?
Speaker 2:guys have a lot of injuries, casualties. I mean, I can say I never lost anybody. We definitely took our share of injuries, though I did. I did lose one when I was with the ground pounders. Um, that's kind of a memory that I pushed back in my head and don't think about a lot anymore. I can understand that, um, but yeah, I definitely did my, definitely earned my paycheck. We'll say it that way.
Speaker 1:Right. It took care of people, though, too yeah did you develop some pretty close relationships with the guys though oh yeah, I still talk to a lot of them today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, our platoon actually had the best ratings going through mojave viper. So we had a total of five platoons within our company and two and two were paired up together. And then our platoon um, we were actually paired up with local national tankers so we had to transport fuel all over the ao, so definitely got some, uh, cultural experience as well.
Speaker 1:Took Took a lot of chai while you were there? No, actually, oh, okay, I was curious because I was in northern Iraq and we worked closely with local leaders, and so that was the thing you sat around and drank chai with them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that didn't really happen in the South End Lucky.
Speaker 1:Chai and dirty glasses is not that much fun, oh I bet well good. So, um, is there anything? When you think about that deployment? Uh, is there anything that sticks out in your mind? Like, when you think about your deployment to afghanistan, what's like the first thing that pops into your head? What do you remember the most?
Speaker 2:sandstorms are actually pretty freaking cool. I mean the first one's a little trippy when you see it, but uh, once you realize what it is and you know, you see them in the movies and just see rushing in. It's not how it happens at all. Um, there was one mission we were on. My truck was always second or third from the rear. That way if somebody took a casualty we didn't have to turn around, we could just fly up the side of the convoy. And we're at a halt for something. And I look behind me and I see two of my Marines crouched down with some sort of stick or something poking at a bush. I opened up my back door. I'm like Hunter Snipper, what the hell are you guys doing? It's a desert crocodile, doc. What are you talking about? I jump out, run over there. They're messing with a little lizard about six inches long. I'm like really, leave the lizard alone.
Speaker 2:Don't play with the wildlife, gentlemen, exactly when I was with the uh ground pounders. We, uh, we're doing a mission through a uh brain fart, you're going through a town. No, brain fart, you're going through a town, nope green area in the middle of the desert oasis oasis, thank you you're welcome.
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, we're going through an oasis and we take a halt and it's only my third or fourth day with them. So I sit down underneath the tree, I've got my arm on my med bag and I'm just watching seeing who are going to be my problem children. Who is going to be good at helping me out? All of a sudden, two groups of Marines just start walking in on each other. They create a circle and all of a sudden they start cheering. I'm like what is going on? All of a sudden, one side starts cheering while the other's all acting bummed and then all of a sudden it just goes dead quiet, like what's going on? And I see heads going like this and they start pointing at me like doc, like crap grab my bed bag run over there and there's a guy kneeling down holding his arm, like this.
Speaker 2:I'm like what'd you do nothing? What'd you freaking do? Oh, he might have gotten stung. What did you get? Stung by? Um, just scorpion, like what? Where is it over there in a box? I'm like open it. Open it because I need to know what kind of antivenom to give them. Opens it like give them the antivenom, call a bird. And I'm like look you guys, what are you doing? They're like oh, we thought it would be cool to fight two scorpions and see what happened. You, you guys, are idiots. Please stop playing with the wildlife Now we're down a man.
Speaker 1:There's nothing worse than bored Marines there's really not. Yeah, endless source of entertainment? That's for sure, absolutely so. Were you single when you were deployed?
Speaker 2:I was dating a girl. I was never married my entire time in.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, so you finish up your deployment in Afghanistan and you come back to the States. Yep, all right. Talk to me a little bit about what it was like to leave Afghanistan and come home.
Speaker 2:I actually tried to stay. Stay, I didn't want to come back. Yeah, um, life was just easier over there. You wake up every morning, you know exactly what you're doing, you know who the enemy is. Not like here, where you know you got people who go out and shoot charlie kirk or something. That Right, you know who the enemy is, you know who your friends are. That's that. It's just easier over there. So, yeah, I talked to my chief a couple weeks before I came back. I was like chief, can I stay? He's like no Little Filipino guy. No, I brought all your motherfuckers over here. I'm taking all your motherfuckers home.
Speaker 1:God damn it, chief. All right, right. So you pack up your stuff and you come back. Yep, and what was it like for you to kind of step off that plane back in the states and after I've been gone for for that period of time, environmental?
Speaker 2:shock, yeah, um, I mean, when I got on the plane in afghanistan to come home, it was September, so it's 135, 140 degrees, and I got off the plane. I mean we stopped in Kyrgyzstan and then Germany and then came back to Cherry Point, north Carolina, but it's 2 in the morning and it's only 80 degrees, but it's 95% humidity. It was like walking into a wall, yeah.
Speaker 1:What are your thoughts on dry heat? Like, like, it was 135 where I was at people. Oh, it's a dry heat, it 135 is 135 to me.
Speaker 2:It is, but I would. I thought that one 35 was easier to handle than that 80 at 90% humidity. Yeah, 100%. I totally agree with the whole dry heat, wet heat thing. Yeah, it's still hot, but at least your sweat's evaporating, not just condensing on your body.
Speaker 1:Right Take a shower you get out, you dry off, you're wet again. Exactly, yeah, I hear you. Now what a shower you get out, you dry off, your wet again. Exactly, yeah, I hear you. So, uh, now what happens after you get back?
Speaker 2:uh well, we actually got delayed getting off the bus. Um, my girlfriend and her parents came down for the welcome home and you know it's one in the morning, two in the morning, whatever it is. And then you know it's one in the morning, two in the morning, whatever it is. One of my Marines actually found out his wife was unfaithful two weeks before we came home and she showed up to the welcome home with the guy. Now, mind you, this Marine was 140 pounds, soaking wet. It took me and three corporals to hold him down and the commanding officer had to basically call base security, have them escorted off the base.
Speaker 1:So we're sitting there waving at our friends and family for 45 minutes before we can get off the bus. I feel like that happens on every deployment's that one guy where that? That happens too, it feels like unfortunately.
Speaker 2:I mean like it's one thing I can say about the girl I was dating at the time I never had a doubt that she was faithful. Yeah, uh, yeah. We finally get off the bus and couldn't get a barracks room that late at night. So I went back to the hotel with my girl and her parents and they're like well, we're exhausted, we're going to bed. I'm like I'm on afghan time. Uh, I'm gonna go out on the catwalk and I actually called her from, uh, kyrgyzstan. It's like hey, let me talk to your mom. She's like okay, mom, I need you to pick me up a six pack of bud light. She's like bud light, you don't drink that. I was like I haven't drank in nine months. I'm easing back into it. She's like all right, I can respect that. So she brought me a six pack of bud light and, where you know, I walk out on the catwalk, I'm light a cigarette and I crack open a beer and I look down and two of my marines are down there. They're like doc, come drink with us. I'm like oh shit, here we go. I walk down there and I'm just gonna stick with my six-pack like doc, have some wine? No, yes, okay, doc, have some screwdrivers. No, yes, okay, five, okay.
Speaker 2:Five o'clock rolls around. I'm just tanked and I climb back up to the barracks, the hotel room lay down next to the girlfriend. I'm like, babe, are you awake? She's like yeah, I was like I need you to do me a favor, go to room 113, get Lance Corporal Collier and go to the car and get my med bag. She's like why? I was like I need an iv. She's like you're gonna let a drunk marine give you an iv. It's like, um, yes, why don't you just teach me how to do it?
Speaker 1:no, whack oh my, that's quite a homecoming. Oh yeah, I feel like there's a lot of stories like that though. Oh yes, yes, absolutely so. You, uh, you get home, um, you're still down at, uh, in cherry point. Um, what happens after that? What happens if you get back?
Speaker 2:I actually take my post-deployment leave came back for my older half-sister's wedding. I actually called my mom before I came back because my mom has worked in health care for years. She knew I was a corpsman and the wedding was going to be the first time I had seen her since leaving for Afghanistan, my pre-deployment leave. Uh, I was like mom, I need to tell you something right now. I don't want you causing a scene at the wedding. She's like what I was, like I started smoking in Afghanistan. You're in healthcare, you know better than that, yeah, but guess what? When you're getting shot at and blown up, you really don't give a fuck.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I I. You know I'm not a smoker really, but I smoked when I was in the army, for sure, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:It does it to you. Yep man, we were on a patrol when we were over there. And I look left. I was bored. I took point. I look left, everybody's smoking. I look right, everybody's smoking. I'm like, fuck it, give me a cigarette. You don't smoke, doc. I could step on a fucking landmine right now. Just give me a goddamn cigarette. Okay, hands me a cigarette.
Speaker 2:And I didn't know what I was smoking at the time. So I light it up, hack a couple times, then get the hang of it and all of a sudden, by the end of it, I'm walking like this. Staff Sergeant, everybody halt. Doc, what the fuck is wrong with you? Smoked a cigarette. Staff Sergeant, the hell did you smoke? I don't know whatever. He gave me Lucky strike. Very first cigarette was a non-filter. Yeah, staff Sergeant. Doc, if you want to smoke from now on you're going to smoke what we smoke. What's that? Lucky strikes or Newports? Okay, whatever. So all through afghanistan I was smoking. New ports came back, switched to reds and dropped from two packs a day down to one pack a day. Pretty much smoked the rest of my time in the service.
Speaker 1:Yeah no doubt so you, uh, you get back. You survive your mom's wrath. Yeah, and what's your next duty station then?
Speaker 2:Went back to Med Battalion, unfortunately, because they basically send you TAD to go on deployment. Oh, okay, so Med Battalion was my parent command, but by that time I already had my warfare pin. I got that while I was in Afghanistan. I earned my, my warfare pin. I got that while I was in Afghanistan. I earned my fleet marine force what's the technical term for it? Enlisted fleet marine force warfare specialist pin, also re-enlisted while I was over there. So I came back, as you know, a senior, experienced corpsman with the med battalion so did a little bit of training and stuff. Within two weeks they were looking for guys to go TAD again. I was like, sign me up.
Speaker 2:Get me out of here. So I went for six months out to Banger Washington for Marine Corps Security Forces, so you were support to the security forces then.
Speaker 1:For six months out to Bangor, washington, for Marine Corps Security Forces. So you were support to the security forces then, yeah, medical support. Okay, all right. Now did you travel anywhere with them, or was this just out?
Speaker 2:No. So the majority of the security forces, a lot of those guys it's their first command, even the officers. And then you've got the senior guys who you know we do training ops and things like that. But their main focus out there was protecting the nuclear subs and the nuclear weapons on the base With. You know, we had two corpsmen go out there for medical support. They had like three full-time guys that staffed their clinic, so a total of five corpsmen. Really One of the guys that went TAD out there with me didn't have a deployment or anything. So a lot of my field ops were with the fast company out there. They're kind of the special forces of the security forces. They do a lot of the mount training and things like that. So I did a lot with them because they wanted somebody with combat experience.
Speaker 1:And how long were you with them? Six months, okay, and then back to Back to Lejeune. So how much longer were you stuck there at, stuck there at lagoon?
Speaker 2:maybe about a year. Um, I actually, when I got back, they were looking for people to go work in s6 and they said if you're going to work in s6 you have to have your a plus certification. Well, luckily I got my a plus before I had my high school diploma. So I was like like, hey, I've already got mine. They're like all right, you're going to S6. So I got to go work in the S6 shop and actually, you know, have something to do. Um, I was there for the rest of my time there.
Speaker 2:Uh, about two months into it, the ops chief she was a E6, went on leave and I was the senior E4, so I was in charge of the shop while she was gone and ended up doing a couple inventories and taking them over to regiment, turning them in, and Gunny comes out. He's like who the fuck are you? Agent 3 Martin Med Battalion's S6 acting chief? What do you want Turning in these inventories? I thought that's what I was supposed to do. He's like who's HL1V Tug? That's the ops chief. You're the acting ops chief right now. Yeah, Congratulations, you're the new ops chief. You're the acting ops chief right now. Yeah, Congratulations, You're the new ops chief. I'm like what the hell do you mean?
Speaker 2:It's like I've been asking for these inventories for six months? Crap, okay, oh no, I was just doing what I thought I was supposed to. He said, no, you are supposed to be doing them, that's why you're the new ops chief. I'm like, okay, well, you might want to call somebody over there and let them know. Right, let's make this? Official yeah, so that was a little awkward when she got back.
Speaker 1:But yeah, what'd they have her doing when she got back? Uh, they moved her to like S one or something.
Speaker 2:Okay, All right, and then so a sick shot then total maybe about a year. Okay, I guess I was there longer than I thought I was. Now that I think about it, yeah, and where'd you go from there? My least favorite duty station? Portsmouth, virginia. Oh Naval Medical Center, portsmouth, virginia. My son was born in.
Speaker 1:Portsmouth. I know that place well. Yep, and what'd you do in Portsmouth?
Speaker 2:What didn't I do in Portsmouth? I actually got relieved of duty in the first clinic I was managing. Um, my marine mentality did not agree with hospital lifestyle again. Garrison's much different. Yeah, it is. Yeah, I uh had some retired e5 tried chewing out my front desk staff. You know I had an e2 and an e3 working the front desk and he tried chewing them out while I was back there. I put him in his place and he went and complained and it was civilians that were the office managers because of, you know, contracting and stuff right. So I got my butt chewed by a civilian for yelling at patients. So I had to bounce them between two or three clinics before they finally said all right, you cannot work in a clinic anymore. So if you're you're a new training officer, you are not a fit yeah, absolutely okay, whatever I can do that, so I became a.
Speaker 2:Okay, whatever I can do that, so I became a. I was like an E7 billet as an E4. I was a directorate level training officer in charge of all the training for like 11 different clinics.
Speaker 1:Did that suit you? Was that a little bit better fit for?
Speaker 2:you than the? Yeah, I mean I didn't have to deal with civilians, I didn't have to deal with belligerent patients. I was a TCCC instructor as well, so it was a tactical combat casualty care course for people that were going from the hospital TAD to combat units or things like that. We'd get them ready for going downrange and it was all combat guys who did that, so it was really a hard way of taking out aggression, right it works right yeah exactly, yeah and um.
Speaker 1:So you were at portsmouth for how long then?
Speaker 2:that was my final duty station, the end of my career. I guess you would say um two years.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you uh ets from there. We don't call ets a navy, though, do we?
Speaker 2:uh, we just call I got higher tenured out. Basically I couldn't pick up rank fast enough, so they gave me the boot, yeah, but uh went and ended up dealing with some drama there as well, though I mean, I was a lead assistant on our sexual assault forensics team. That was about the only health care that I did actually enjoy because I viewed it as important. But uh, you know, I brushed elbows with a lot of nIS agents doing that and stuff Ended up, uh, yeah, basically I couldn't pick up rank cause my senior chief you know I didn't have, you know, the golden knee pads Right, so I never got.
Speaker 2:You didn't play the game. I did not play the game. No, pads Right, so I never got to play the game. I did not play the game. No, no, they only gave the best email remarks to people who went and sold hot dogs and donuts, and I thought my time was better spent being a T triple C instructor or making sure my training was good to go for my. All my guys and I had different priorities. I didn't want to play the politics, I wanted to be a good service member Want to do your job.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:So you get out and so you come back to Michigan right away, or what did you do when you got out?
Speaker 2:So I was actually supposed to get out February 2015. Mm-hmm, A girl that I was friends with down there. I ended up moving in with her and her husband because I knew I wasn't going to be able to pick up rank. So I actually tried crossing over to crypto so that I could have a better chance of promotion. So that I could have a better chance of promotion. So I didn't renew my apartment lease and I moved in with her and her husband before I found out that they didn't accept me to the school. So I was just going to ride it out there. But when I moved in with her, I saw that her and her husband were fighting a lot and I actually I don't even know how it happened, but I started talking to this girl's mom and.
Speaker 2:I think it was because one of the times I came on leave, I had driven the girl's daughter to Ohio for her so that she could spend time with her grandma. But yeah, while I was living there, I kind of realized she was not a very good mother at all. So I was kind of conspiring with her mother to get custody up to her. Well, she found out. She ended up accusing me of sexual harassment. So I ended up losing my position on the sexual assault forensics team, because if you have a sexual charge against you, you can't exactly be handling evidence of other cases. Ncis basically laughed at that. They're like yeah, that's not going anywhere.
Speaker 2:Well, I was supposed to be discharged on February 6th 2015,. February 4th. My LPO calls me. He's like are you sitting down right now? I was like I'm in my office. What's up, you're on legal hold. What the hell do you mean? I'm on legal hold. It's up, you're on legal hold. What the hell do you mean? I'm on legal hold. It's like uh, remember that girl who filed charges for sexual harassment? Yeah, she opted to sexual assault. You've got to be fucking kidding me. So I I went on a fricking rager. I drove from Portsmouth over to Norfolk, walked right into NCIS myself Not the smartest thing I should have done Right Walked in Like I need a sexual assault investigator. Okay, walk into his office and I sit down, because I knew the guy. He's like hey, mark, what are you doing here? I was like apparently you want to see me. He's like what are you talking about? Check your paperwork. Looks down. He's like no freaking way. I'm like yep, he's like you want a lawyer, I was like no, I just want the shit to go away.
Speaker 2:He's like you know I gotta read you your rights right now, right like well let's get this over with. But yeah, it ended up getting cleared up pretty quick. I was out of there in two months, but uh, interesting, two months was pretty quick I mean two months, it was a very long time to me it was a very long two months but it definitely could have been longer yeah, yeah, I can believe that.
Speaker 2:But uh, yeah, what's actually? During that two months, my high school sweetheart now my wife reached back out to me. She was getting out of an abusive relationship. We ended up finding that we still had very strong feelings for each other. We ended up getting back together when I got home.
Speaker 1:That's a great story. Yeah, how long have you?
Speaker 2:been married. We've been married six years now, six and half years okay, all right.
Speaker 1:So you, you got out and you came home um met up with your high school sweetheart again, yep and uh. So what did you do like?
Speaker 2:oh, there's not too many job opportunities for a unlicensed combat corpsman, so I ended up being a assistant manager at domino's for a month well, that's kind of how this is the word I'm looking for.
Speaker 1:That's kind of anti-climactic, after all the stuff you've done with your life and your career. Yeah, not that it's not important because they need managers, but I mean, how'd that feel like for?
Speaker 2:you Kind of sucked, going from you know eight years wearing the uniform to not really having any opportunities for any gainful employment Right Folding pizza boxes. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, Actually. No, I delegated that part, but Well, you were the manager.
Speaker 1:You need to have some leadership skills. So yeah, I can see that. So how long did you stay there?
Speaker 2:I was on there about a month, went from there to Verizon selling cell phones. While I was there I had a gentleman come in, bought a charger from me and then offered me a job on the spot as an insurance agent.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So I kind of bounced it around a little bit, talked to the girl for my wife girlfriend at the time and she's like, I don't know, insurance agents are kind of sleazy sometimes. It's like, yeah, I know, that's kind of what I'm feeling. I don't know if I want to do this, and then we find out she's pregnant time to sell phone or time to time to sell insurance yeah, pretty much.
Speaker 2:So I went and interviewed with them. He was a marine corvette um. Him and his brother ran the company and was honestly one of the best employment decisions I made going to work for them. They were absolutely phenomenal. We sold medicare insurance so it was all dealing with, you know, the older population. Um did that for a few years okay, and then?
Speaker 1:um, what made you decide to leave there cubicle?
Speaker 2:that's just not you, is it? I can't stand sitting in a cubicle. So where'd you go from there? Um, I actually got into uh, hvac at that time. Um, my wife's grandpa, I mean. I had been bouncing around through like five different majors up until that point, not knowing exactly what the hell I wanted to do. Then I decided I wanted to get into trades. So I sat down with her. I was like, well, I don't want to be an electrician because I don't want to play with high voltage. I don't want to be a plumber because I don't want to play with poop. I'll go into HVAC. And later I find out. Really, hvac, you play with all of it Electronics, poop, all of it. Yeah, pretty much.
Speaker 2:But I was going to go to Northwestern Tech out in Southfield and my wife's grandpa told me to reach out to a gentleman who owned a mechanical contracting company. He's like no, no, no, no, no, no, drop out of that place, go to LCC. Get your associate's degree, I'll hire you after your first semester. Okay, get your associate's degree, I'll hire you after your first semester, okay. So I dropped out of northwestern, went to lcc. Uh, he hired me after the first semester. I was with him for about five months realized he didn't even know how to spell ethics.
Speaker 2:So oh, that could be a problem yeah, that didn't really align with my viewpoints. So I left him and bounced around between a couple residential companies. Uh, finished out my associates right as covid was hitting transferred to ferris state for my bachelor's. Finished that out in 2023 yeah, late 2023, I believe. Um ended up having to. I had to do an internship to finish my degree, so I got in with my current company doing building automation and controls. Uh, they hired me after my internship and then, after I finished my bachelor's, I was like I'm bored. Master's degree.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, at least you take that boredom and do something constructive with it, Because a lot of people don't, that's true. So that's really good. So, associates, bachelor's, master's, and now you're working in your field. Are you enjoying it?
Speaker 2:Yes and no. I mean I'm still trying to find that sense of purpose that I had when I was in the service. I mean, obviously my career since I got out has constantly been improving. Like I told the wife, you know, I'll never just be a little schmuck. Like you know, your ex-husband was, um, I'm always going to be better for you, but I'm constantly searching for that sense of employment purpose. I guess you could say, yeah, that's why I'm looking at going for another master's.
Speaker 1:Right. Somebody once said the people that go off to war, the people that go to the military, aren't the same people that come back. Do you feel that way? 100%. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 2:I mean, I guess, going over there you lose a part of who you were originally but at the same time, depending on your experiences, it can mold you into a different person. Me personally, I believe a better person. I'm aware of my demons, I know they're there, but at the same time I know I have a wife and children who depend on me and I try to keep those demons hidden because I know the evil that's in this world and I don't want them to ever experience it. Right?
Speaker 1:it's a constant battle inside every day. That's how I feel, anyway. That's yeah, yeah, 100. Well, tell me so, speaking of your family, tell me about your family, tell me about your wife. And you have how many kids now? Uh, three, okay, all right. So, uh, boys, girls, a mix, all boys, all boys. How's that going out? How's that working for you?
Speaker 2:it's a freaking madhouse. Um, my oldest is actually hers from her previous marriage, but uh, that POS um hasn't seen him in nine years, I think now. So you're his dad, yeah, I, he wants me to adopt him. He literally tells everybody I'm his dad, yeah, but the jackass won't sign his rights away, won't just get out of the picture, doesn't pay his child support, nothing. But yeah, he sees me as his dad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's got to be a good feeling, though. I mean, you're doing something right, yeah, something, I don't know what. But something.
Speaker 2:So how old are your kids? Then he is 13, um, and then we've got nine and seven okay, so active, busy boys yep, uh, the oldest is in orchestra, so he's small for his age, about this tall, but he plays the bass and orchestra, so we're toting that thing around all the time. Yeah, the younger two are both in scouts. They bounce around soccer, basketball, um. Yeah, they're all in archery, so they're always doing something.
Speaker 1:That's great, keep busy. Yeah, of course you know that. Right, you got to keep them busy. Yeah, well, tell me about your wife.
Speaker 2:I had that. That could be a whole nother interview. Give me the small version of it. Um, I mean like we were high school sweethearts. Um met her when I was 17 and she was 14. Um started dating when I was 18, she was 15. Um, we were constantly getting into trouble back then. Her parents didn't like the fact that I was a legal adult, right um. But her grandmother, her aunt, they all supported it. They saw how happy she was. They saw that I treated her good and um. But yeah, she ended up we separate or split up. When I was in Japan you know just the distance.
Speaker 2:She ended up getting married to her first husband just before Afghanistan. I asked her to. I straight up asked her to leave him for me, and she told me, no, she can't do that. She wants to be a good wife. And so I think that was two days before I left. That was the last time I had talked to her, and a little over four years.
Speaker 2:During that years she ended up divorcing him, got remarried to my oldest biological father. She reached out to me just before I got out when she was going through her separation with him. Both decided that we still had feelings for each other. So I she ended up calling me after I had discharged. I was waiting for TMO to pick up my household goods and get them back to Michigan and I was driving for Domino's as a delivery driver. And she calls me one night just in tears because he was being abusive and I was like I'm on my way. She's like what Don't you still have household goods and stuff you have to get? I was like I'll come back down, I'm on my way. I made that 14-hour drive in about nine hours, broke a few laws.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:No speeding laws or anything like that.
Speaker 2:No, okay, I'm on camera. I didn't break any laws. Yeah, went, picked her up, got her and her son out of there. We've definitely had our ups and downs but I mean, I've opened up some of my stories to her and I there's nobody else I'd rather be going through this with than her. I know how miserable I am at times, how miserable I can be at times, and I don't ever want that for her. I don't ever want that for the boys. Um, during the whole thing that happened with charlie kirk, I had come across the video of it actually happening and I told my wife I saw the video. She's like I want to see it. When I got, I was like no, you don't. Yeah, she's like what do you mean? I was like I've seen this injury, I've treated this injury. It's a carotid dissection. You do not want to see it. She's like oh, never mind, like I I honestly won't watch it.
Speaker 2:I can't I yeah, for people that have never seen that and don't realize the kind of damage and how much blood goes through that area, it's disturbing, Perfect. But yeah, those kind of evils I try to keep from her, from the kids. I know how hard it is for me to be happy, so I just want them to be happy. I'll feed off of their happiness.
Speaker 1:So we covered a lot in the last hour. Is there anything we haven't talked about that you want to talk about?
Speaker 2:You're the interviewer, I'm just answering the questions all right.
Speaker 1:Well, I always like to make sure, because sometimes there's things that you want to talk about that we don't. So, um, really, I just have one last question to ask you, then I ask everyone the same question for people listening to this years from now, um, and even for your family or for anyone else, what would you like people to take away from this interview? And also, what would you like people to take away from your life and the way that you've lived it? Essentially, what's your message?
Speaker 2:military service is a double-edged sword. Um, you'll never find a greater sense of self-purpose or self-worth, especially going overseas doing a combat tour, gaining that brotherhood with people you're closest to. But at the same time, when you get out, you're never going to find that sense of self-purpose or self-worth again. So it's the people who are able to find happiness after it that I truly admire, because I'm. If I didn't have my wife, I don't know where the hell I'd be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she gets you. She really does. I can see it in your eyes when you're talking to me right now. We all need that person, yeah.
Speaker 2:She's that person for me.
Speaker 1:I'm glad that you found her. I really am. I'm glad that you found her. I really am. I'm glad she came back. All right, well, you know, I just wanted to thank you for coming out here, and I know that we had to work on scheduling and we finally made it out here, but I'm really glad that I got to talk to you today. Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. Thank you.
