Photo By Staff Sgt. Sarah Ralph | U.S. Marines at Recruiting Sub-Station Fullerton, Recruiting Station Orange County,...... read more read more
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Maria Sanchez and Jesus Solano, the mother and father of future Marine Luis Solano, immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the early 2000s. They had their first son Luis in September of 2003 which was one of their main reasons for staying in California. From there, they added two little girls and three younger boys. Growing up as the oldest, Solano had the responsibility to help take care of his siblings and assist in providing for them. Maria and Jesus instilled in Solano that everything he gets from life is earned, never given.
Solano was never a social kid growing up and even faced bullies at a young age due to having a strong accent. As Solano grew so did his family, he faced a harder home life than the average teenager. Being the oldest of five siblings, Solano had a lot on his shoulders making sure that his siblings had a better life growing up than he did.
Both parents are very supportive of Solano’s decision to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
“I used to always tell people that I wanted to be in a Marvel movie growing up,” says Solano. “Becoming a Marine will be the closest thing to reaching my dream of becoming a real life super hero.”
One of the bigger reasons why Solano wanted to join the Marine Corps was because it will provide him with financial stability, and allow him the opportunity to assist his parents. During his time at Recruiting Sub-Station Fullerton, the Solano family hit some tough times with one of their vehicles breaking down. The Marines in the station came together and pitched in enough money to help them get it fixed so the family was not inconvenienced any longer.
Sgt. Devon Espinoza, a Marine Corps recruiter with Recruiting Sub-Station Fullerton observed future Marine Solano not being himself one day due to still not being able to afford a cell phone.
“I saw he was really sad that he couldn’t afford a phone, and I knew if I could display how Marines have each other's back, this was the perfect time to prove it,” says Espinoza. “Helping out where we can is very important, it's our job to treat each other like family. It doesn’t matter where he comes from or what his living situation is, I knew he needed help. It’s what Marines do.”
Solano expressed that RSS Fullerton has allowed him to get out of his comfort zone by meeting new people in the Delayed Entry Program, and become even more confident.
Solano is scheduled to ship to recruit training in June of 2021. He has chosen to become a rifleman in the Marine Corps and will learn the basics of his job at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
“They allowed me to meet new people and gain better connections,” says Solano. “The biggest things the station has done for my family was give them hope for my future, and that I won’t end up as another street rat.”
| Date Taken: | 04.27.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2021 18:51 |
| Story ID: | 394935 |
| Location: | FULLERTON, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, It's What Marines Do, by SSgt Sarah Ralph, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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