Photo By Lance Cpl. Kenneth Johnson | U.S. Marine Corps Pvt. Isaac Zutah, a new Marine with Mike Company, 3rd Recruit...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. - At 32, Isaac Ago Zutah stood at the threshold of a dream. With a suitcase in hand and hope in his heart, he left Ghana — the first in his family ever to do so — bound for the United States.
"You could see the joy from the house," Zutah recalled. "The first person to leave [Ghana] was from the house."
His family gathered, beaming with pride, watching him take the first steps toward a future none of them had seen but all believed in. It was a moment of triumph wrapped in uncertainty.
But the journey would soon demand more than courage. It would ask for sacrifice.
When Zutah arrived in America, the U.S. Marine Corps was not part of his plan. The idea hadn’t even crossed his mind — until, as he describes it, a door opened unexpectedly.
“The graces found me here,” he said. “Being in the United States is a grace. Being in the Marine Corps was a decision I made while I was in the States.”
That decision would change his life.
Through the grueling challenges of recruit training, Zutah found himself shaped by the values of the Corps: discipline, perseverance and commitment — not just to country, but to family and the home he had left behind.
Perhaps the hardest test came before he ever wore the uniform.
Just months before his departure, Zutah’s son was born. Though Isaac had already secured his visa, his newborn had not been included — and time ran out.
"At the time we had the visa he was not born, so I had to send emails to the embassy,” he said. “They did not give me a visa, but they gave me an email saying I could travel with a child without a visa."
But when they arrived at the airport, hope turned to heartbreak.
"They said they hadn't seen such a thing before and I couldn't travel with a baby without a visa," Zutah said.
With tears in their eyes, Isaac and his wife made the painful decision to leave their five-month-old son behind in Ghana. They hugged him tightly, knowing they didn’t know when they’d hold him again.
Despite the physical distance from home, Zutah carried Ghana with him through every drill, every sleepless night, every mile run in formation.
He never forgot who he was — or where he came from.
Even during training, he found small but heartfelt ways to give back to his community back home. One of those ways was collecting and sending physical training gear from the Marine Corps.
"I picked about 30 go-fasters that I will be sending home," he said. "I pray when the need is and well established I will extend that to become a reality in my life."
For Zutah, every step forward was about more than his own future. It was about building something greater — for his son, for his family, for the village he left behind.
Now a United States Marine, Isaac Ago Zutah stands as a living example of resilience and purpose. The sacrifices he made were steep — separation, uncertainty, and the weight of family left behind.
But for Zutah, those sacrifices were the price of a dream — a dream he continues to honor in uniform, in service, and in every act of giving.
(U.S. Marine Corps story by Cpl. Kenneth Johnson)
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| Date Taken: | 06.06.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2025 15:05 |
| Story ID: | 499887 |
| Location: | PARRIS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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