Photo By Staff Sgt. Kelsey Owen | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ray Castillo, 724th Air Mobility Squadron operations flight...... read more read more
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Tech. Sgt. Ray Castillo is the 724th Air Mobility Squadron operations flight NCOIC. He hails from Waco, Texas, and has been in the Air Force for almost 13 years. He and his husband have been at Aviano for nearly 3 years, and are looking forward to their upcoming PCS to Moron, Spain.
As October is recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Castillo wanted to share his story in hopes that it would help others in the same situation as him, and encourage them to get out of that violent environment and not look back. Throughout his childhood and teen years he faced abuse from prominent male figures in his life; the holidays are especially rough, he said, when he remembers one Christmas when he and his family returned home to their entire apartment destroyed by his stepfather.
“The Christmas tree was knocked over, the presents were gone, and he left a note on the dry erase board that was just cussing (Castillo’s mom) out, calling her all different names,” Castillo said. After calling the police, they were escorted to a shelter where they would then spend the next six months.
In the years after that his mother moved on and began dating a new man. While he didn’t seem violent at first, Castillo said, he still didn’t trust him. After they moved away from Waco, he began pushing his Christian beliefs on the family and trying to lead them away from their Catholic views. Then, one night after Castillo and his sister attended Homecoming, his mother’s boyfriend assaulted him.
“All I remember is crawling up the stairs backwards,” said Castillo. “He got on top of me, started choking me and hitting my head on the stairs.”
The next morning Castillo approached his sister, telling her that they had to get out of there and that he wanted to be taken to their grandparents.
“My dad’s parents ended up getting partial custody of me and my sister, so we’d go see them on weekends and holidays,” said Castillo. “My grandparents’ relationship taught me what a real household should look like. What a real loving, caring relationship should look like. Seeing that gave me hope that not everybody’s life is like this.”
| Date Taken: | 10.14.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.15.2020 08:56 |
| Story ID: | 380938 |
| Location: | AVIANO AIR BASE, IT |
| Hometown: | WACO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 44 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Cultural Events and Awareness
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