When a coin is left unmoved and unseen for so long in the environment, one side gets muddled until its design is unrecognizable. The military is similar to that coin.  

The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, with those who make up their troops, are who protect our nation with the brave men and woman who serve under the flag. The people that defend our nation are part of these branches of the military. For these brave soldiers, their families are their branches, their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, spouses and children. These families are what make up the Armed Forces. Due to decades of ignorance, the main idea of these people is that they live and breathe battle, only ever working on the field, just like the muddled side of the coin. The families who remain unseen, on the flip side of that coin, are the roots of our troops. 

Staff Sergeant Christan Ramirez has been in the United States military for over 13 years. At the age of 17, he originally joined the USMC (United States Marine Corps).  

While attending a movie, he was introduced to his calling and discovered himself, based on an advertisement that played prior to the feature. As he grew up, he saw tragic events of the country’s history and decided he wanted to be there to assist and protect those who live inside the county.  

“I had always wanted to travel the world, and I wanted to be there to help others. After I saw 9-11 when I was in fifth grade, I knew I wanted to be there on the front lines to assist and save lives”, said Ramirez. 

 He added, “Ironically, I saw an advertisement in the cinema when I was around 12 that show cased and presented clips of the Marine Corps and that’s what introduced me to my career path.” 

When he joined, he didn’t think of starting a family, but once he began his family, he realized how demanding the military was. The USMC is more mission oriented than other branches and deployed Staff Sergeant Ramirez over eight times in the course of those 13 years. These deployments ranged from six to nine months or longer. This prevented him from being able to spend time with his wife and daughter. 

When SSG Ramirez was arriving home from his seventh deployment, he was temporarily stationed at an Army base. While there, he and his wife were surprised by the culture shock of the different branches. His wife spoke to other families on the base and discovered the opportunities the Army offered for families, including allowing time off for anniversaries, doctors’ appointments for children, and more. The space and overall quality of family life they saw was provided for the soldiers in the Army inspired Sergeant Ramirez to switch branches from the Marine Corps to the Army. When he was back from that seventh deployment, he was meant to stay on base for four weeks and then go to another deployment, however, due to wanting to switch branches. 

Staff Sergeant Ramirez expressed, “The Marines taught me to be a marine, to be that serious person. But there was a point where I couldn’t turn it off, like a switch that got stuck.”  

He continued, “The Army taught me to turn that off, they showed me how to be both.”