The new 2nd Edition of the The Citizen Marine is now available on Amazon!
The Citizen Marine is a story of the fragile balance between our service members’ love for family and their sense of duty. While running in the beautiful Tampa Bay area near the end of four years of Marine Corps retired recall duty a plane ascends from the nearby airport. Mike knew he’d soon be on one again himself. But, would he be going back home to his loving family for good, or would he be going back to the Middle East for yet another deployment?
His beautiful wife and best friend Terri was anxious for his return. They had already been apart more than five of their 15 years of marriage, but she supported him every step of the way. His mind drifts back through his 40 year career during his run to search his soul for an answer. The internal tug of war between his love for Terri and the sound of distant drums was tearing him apart.
Along the way there was love, joy, sacrifice, marriage, divorce, and loss of loved ones and friends. There was peace and there was war. There was contentment, and there was restlessness, but there was never a dull moment…
A must read for all active, reserve, retired, and veteran service members and their families and friends who have endured years of separations and multiple deployments. Whether it was World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, or the current War on Terrorism, we all share many of the same experiences far and away different from the average American citizen. The training, the travel, the duty, the loneliness, the camaraderie, the inferiority, the pride, the sadness, the elation, the depression, and the desire to make time go faster and sometimes slower.
Only one percent of America’s citizens have experienced it, and The Citizen Marine tells our story that many Americans would never otherwise understand. Blended in all this is some informative historical background on why we are in the Middle East and why our military families are called upon to serve so often.
More on: https://citizenmarine.com/
Buy the Book on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Marine-Living-Dream-Every-ebook/dp/B07D84TLCT
Very interesting book and a must read for Chicago Marines. Mike served a lot of time with Marine Corps Reserve 2/24 infantry battalion and MWCS-48, the Marine Air Wing communication squadron. He enlisted in the Marines at the end of Vietnam and then served on active duty and the Reserve, promoted to Chief Warrant Officer-4 before retiring. When 2/24 was activated in 2007 he worked his bolt to come out of retirement and served with the Battalion in Iraq.
The regular Marine Corps liked him and unretired him several more times to serve at Central Command (CentCom) in Tampa at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, with deployments Afghanistan. He worked on numerous important missions throughout his career, notably implementing satellite communication throughout Afghanistan. He ended up serving close to 40 years from first enlistment until final retirement.
Officers from Marine Wing Communications Squadron 1990. Mike back row, on the right.
General Petraus left, Mike Wenger Center
