MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO -- After escaping a war-torn country, Pvt. Hector Sanchez went against all odds and tackled a new challenge – becoming a United States Marine.
Sanchez, 23, spent his early childhood in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador, while the country was under the shadow a civil war.
The Salvadoran Civil War was predominantly fought between the government and a coalition of four guerrilla groups and the communist group, Farabundo Marti National Liberation, according to www.globalsecurity.org.
“I remember playing outside with my brother and sister and hearing machine guns and explosives going off in the distance,” said Sanchez. “When they got too close, my grandmother would run outside and hurry us into the house.”
He said that his grandmother would hide him and his brother in the back room when the Salvadoran army came to search the house. He said that if he was caught, he would have been drafted into the army even as a young child.
At this time, Sanchez’s parents had already fled the country to Pacoima, Calif., where his father worked for a construction company. When Sanchez was seven, his parents returned to El Salvador to bring him and his siblings to the United States.
“My parents always told us how much better California would be, so I was excited to go,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez said that once he arrived to California, his parents showered him and his siblings with clothes and toys. He said that they were a close family because they only had each other.
After only two months in the United States, Sanchez’s parents were murdered by unknown assailants.
“I heard the gunshots but I just thought that they were people setting off fireworks,” Sanchez said. “Once the police arrived, I knew something was wrong and was very scared. I spent the rest of the day in the hospital until my parents passed away.”
Sanchez’s uncle took him and his siblings in for nine months, but due to financial restrictions, he had to give them up to a foster care agency and they were separated.
Sanchez said he was very upset when he and his siblings were split up because they were the only family he had left.
“I was passed around to five different foster homes, and I didn’t like living at any of them because I never felt like I was welcomed,” said Sanchez. “Even though the family was nice, I knew that I wasn’t home.”
Over time Sanchez and his remaining family lost contact. After graduating high school Sanchez had a new focus, joining the Marine Corps.
“I wanted to join since I was 18 years-old, when I saw the recruiting commercials and decided I wanted to challenge myself. I figured that because I had been through so many struggles in my life, there is nothing that I could not overcome,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez went to his local recruiting station and enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he spent four months in the delayed entry program.
“Sanchez was very determined to become a Marine, and showed that determination very early,” said Gunnery Sgt. Treba Henderson, staff noncommissioned officer-in- charge, Recruiting Sub Station Burbank, Calif. “He lived an hour away from the RSS but he never missed a pool function, physical fitness session or appointment. He didn’t care about anything besides becoming a Marine.”
Sanchez departed for recruit training and picked up with Company G, Platoon 2145.
“Sanchez was a good recruit who was always really motivated to become a Marine,” said Staff Sgt. Wayne Johnson, senior drill instructor, Platoon 2145. “He never was down, and seemed to enjoy the training.”
Sanchez said that the most memorable part of recruit training was on the final day of the Crucible when he and his platoon were doing the final hike.
“The other recruits in my platoon were motivating me to keep going and they seemed to really care and want me to do well. I see them as my brothers,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez said that he now realizes that one of the reasons he joined the Marine Corps is so he could belong to something. He said he has been alone the majority of his life and now he feels like he has family.
“I have seen a huge transformation in Sanchez, when he arrived here he didn’t really know how to talk to people. Now he has much more confidence and discipline,” said Johnson, a Racine, Wis., native.
After graduation, Sanchez will return home for 10 days of leave before reporting to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., for Marine Combat Training.
Sanchez enlisted with a supply and accounting military occupational specialty. He said that during his enlistment he wants to go to college to earn a degree in criminal justice. He said that his goal is to become a detective in a homicide unit.