The Heart and Soul Behind a Veteran

Unexpected situations can lead to valuable lessons.

Marine Corp Veteran Moses Tijerina can attest to the value in an unexpected way as he recalls the many lessons learned while serving as a Marine.

In October 1990, Tijerina enlisted to serve his country as a Marine Corp. Thinking he would not be enlisted until the next year, after an unexpected set of events, he was drafted a few days later.

“I enlisted initially in April in an attempt to be gone by January the following year,” said Tijerina.

On a Wednesday, he got a call asking if he wanted to take a slot for someone who had broken their foot. He said yes, not knowing he would ship out that Sunday. He took the slot, and had three days to say his goodbyes to his family and friends. That Sunday he went to the Lubbock station and was then shipped out to Amarillo. From Amarillo, he was sent to San Diego to start boot camp.

“I initially went in to enlist in the buddy program which means you and a friend go in at the same time but because I went early, they went after I did,” Tijerina said.

In the beginning, Tijerina and his two friends hung out all the time. One day he went to go pick up his friends, and they started talking to a Marine Recruiter. His friend enlisted and shortly after Tijerina and the other friend enlisted as well. He had never really thought about it fully, he just went with it until it got serious. He had talked about going into the Army, but because he went in with the buddy system his friend had already enlisted into the Marines. He never really thought about the Marine Corp. because of the difficulty level.

“Going into it, I really had no idea what to expect,” said Tijerina

Before he joined, he was not sure what to expect. After he served, he knew if he could he would do it again in a heartbeat. All he knew was that the Marines were tough on you. They expect the most of you while given the smallest budget. After he retired, he was glad he went.

“There’s good times, bad times but that is just life in general,” said Tijerina.

Going through it all, they wanted to give up. Not just Tijerina, but the fellow Marine Corps. In the moment it was hard on them and tough, but in the end, after they did it, they were proud. They never thought they could get through the hard times of going through 20-mile hike marks with 80 pounds on their back. With the motivation and drive and their buddies right by their side, they got through it. They relied on each other to get the things done that they needed to in order to get back home to their families. “I don’t regret a day of it, I enjoyed my time, I really did,” said Tijerina.

“Military life is not for everyone, but if you want to grow and be a good citizen then the military is the way to go. Through it all, it teaches you many things: leadership, respect, responsibilities, honor, courage and commitment,” said Tijerina.

The military life for Tijerina was not easy on him and his buddies around him. Through the rough times of losing buddies to not knowing if you were going to make it back home to your family. The thing that kept Tijerina motivated was doing it for his fallen soldiers and for his family back home. The rough times kept him motivated the most to make it home.

At the end of his son’s Freshman year, he finally retired after 20 years to go be home with his family and loved ones.