thedrifter
12-28-06, 08:29 AM
The few, the proud, 'the baddest of the bad'
Bloomington boy grows up to become skilled Marine
December 28, 2006 - Posted at 12:00 a.m.
BY BJ LEWIS - VICTORIA ADVOCATE
Robert Flores was 16 and weighed about a buck 30 when Marine recruiters paid a visit to his school in Bloomington. At the same time, he was under some gentle pressure from his dad to further his education, a rarity in his family.
The recruiters saw a Marine inside the boy and the boy saw a way to channel his desire to be a bit of a bad boy. Dad saw the armed services as a way to get what he wanted for his son.
They "asked me if I wanted to try it out, be the baddest of the bad," Robert Jr. said of the recruiters.
That was about five years ago, and the boy is now a sergeant in the branch of service that boasts the few and the proud.
Growing up, Robert Sr. often talked to his son about what it was like for him and for Robert's uncles and aunts.
"We come from a family of nine," Robert Sr. said. "I told him I had to quit school and go to work when I was 11. I was climbing 70- to 100-foot pillars, pouring concrete, lying to employers that I was 17 years old. I was telling him I never got to finish school. I told him it would be a success and honor to me because it was something I never got to do with what I had to do growing up to support our family."
Robert Sr. did eventually make something of himself with the help of a government program that taught him how to weld, but he wanted more for his son.
"I said I don't care what you be, you be all that you can be, whatever you choose."
Robert Sr. was trying to influence Robert to stay in school, go to college, join the service - don't just settle.
Robert Jr. was listening.
"I saw life through my family life, the hardships that my family went through," he said. "I always told myself I never want to be at this age breaking my back to barely make ends meet."
Robert had been a hard worker since the age of 12 or 13. He was working odd jobs - cutting grass, washing cars, masonry and carpentry - to help out his dad so he didn't have to work overtime. "I tried to get my hands into almost everything."
Robert graduated from high school in 2001 when he was 17. By July he was on his way to San Diego for boot camp.
"Soon as he got out of school, we had to sign for him and he was gone," Robert Sr. said. "When he came back, he wasn't my little boy anymore."
Robert had gained several pounds of muscle over the course of camp.
"But before he even went to boot camp he worked out," Robert Sr. said. He had bought his son weights and built him a pull-up bar.
"Every day that kid was out there pumping iron. By the time he went to boot camp, he was physically ready for whatever was coming his way."
What came Robert's way was a ticket out of town, he said.
"I have been all over the place," Robert said. "It's been pretty exciting, not knowing what to expect from the Marine Corps, from the military, period."
He said he likes working with his hands - a sure sign he's his father's son - and that he's learned various trades in the Marines.
"If I get out I can work on air conditioning, diesel engines, or other trades they taught me other then being a basic rifleman and shooting people at 500 yards."
Once again, he was following his dad's advice.
"Try to pick up more things, be a jack of all trades, master of some," Robert Sr. advised.
Robert asked him if he meant "master of one." No, Robert Sr. quickly repeated "master of some." He told him if he couldn't go into one job, go to this other job, and have something he can always fall back on.
Robert is working on his college degree now, preparing himself to enter the Military Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program. They will send him to college as long as it has an ROTC program. Robert would have to go to school full time, keep up his grades and check in with his recruiter periodically. Every summer he'd go to Virginia for more training so after graduation he would receive his commission as an officer.
Getting into the program is a privilege, Robert Jr. said.
"When I was going to high school, a lot of people said they didn't see me graduating. It's a lot of showing people, I am going to do it and it's not too late."
For now, Robert Jr. will be in the Corps a while longer. He's enlisted for another four years and anticipates being deployed from his current station in Jacksonville, Fla.
"Right now I am teaching other Marines how to do the job that I know how to do.
Robert Jr. has no regrets about signing up with the Corps, and when he comes home to visit family and friends and people he went to school with, he tries to be a positive influence.
"I try to show them this isn't all. Go out and go see things. I'm not saying join the Army or Marines," Robert Jr. said. "But there's more to life than just staying home. I want to be an example. By all means, I want to show them that there is something out in the world and it's good. You just have to go out and get it."
Bj Lewis is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6535 or bjlewis@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.
Ellie
Bloomington boy grows up to become skilled Marine
December 28, 2006 - Posted at 12:00 a.m.
BY BJ LEWIS - VICTORIA ADVOCATE
Robert Flores was 16 and weighed about a buck 30 when Marine recruiters paid a visit to his school in Bloomington. At the same time, he was under some gentle pressure from his dad to further his education, a rarity in his family.
The recruiters saw a Marine inside the boy and the boy saw a way to channel his desire to be a bit of a bad boy. Dad saw the armed services as a way to get what he wanted for his son.
They "asked me if I wanted to try it out, be the baddest of the bad," Robert Jr. said of the recruiters.
That was about five years ago, and the boy is now a sergeant in the branch of service that boasts the few and the proud.
Growing up, Robert Sr. often talked to his son about what it was like for him and for Robert's uncles and aunts.
"We come from a family of nine," Robert Sr. said. "I told him I had to quit school and go to work when I was 11. I was climbing 70- to 100-foot pillars, pouring concrete, lying to employers that I was 17 years old. I was telling him I never got to finish school. I told him it would be a success and honor to me because it was something I never got to do with what I had to do growing up to support our family."
Robert Sr. did eventually make something of himself with the help of a government program that taught him how to weld, but he wanted more for his son.
"I said I don't care what you be, you be all that you can be, whatever you choose."
Robert Sr. was trying to influence Robert to stay in school, go to college, join the service - don't just settle.
Robert Jr. was listening.
"I saw life through my family life, the hardships that my family went through," he said. "I always told myself I never want to be at this age breaking my back to barely make ends meet."
Robert had been a hard worker since the age of 12 or 13. He was working odd jobs - cutting grass, washing cars, masonry and carpentry - to help out his dad so he didn't have to work overtime. "I tried to get my hands into almost everything."
Robert graduated from high school in 2001 when he was 17. By July he was on his way to San Diego for boot camp.
"Soon as he got out of school, we had to sign for him and he was gone," Robert Sr. said. "When he came back, he wasn't my little boy anymore."
Robert had gained several pounds of muscle over the course of camp.
"But before he even went to boot camp he worked out," Robert Sr. said. He had bought his son weights and built him a pull-up bar.
"Every day that kid was out there pumping iron. By the time he went to boot camp, he was physically ready for whatever was coming his way."
What came Robert's way was a ticket out of town, he said.
"I have been all over the place," Robert said. "It's been pretty exciting, not knowing what to expect from the Marine Corps, from the military, period."
He said he likes working with his hands - a sure sign he's his father's son - and that he's learned various trades in the Marines.
"If I get out I can work on air conditioning, diesel engines, or other trades they taught me other then being a basic rifleman and shooting people at 500 yards."
Once again, he was following his dad's advice.
"Try to pick up more things, be a jack of all trades, master of some," Robert Sr. advised.
Robert asked him if he meant "master of one." No, Robert Sr. quickly repeated "master of some." He told him if he couldn't go into one job, go to this other job, and have something he can always fall back on.
Robert is working on his college degree now, preparing himself to enter the Military Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program. They will send him to college as long as it has an ROTC program. Robert would have to go to school full time, keep up his grades and check in with his recruiter periodically. Every summer he'd go to Virginia for more training so after graduation he would receive his commission as an officer.
Getting into the program is a privilege, Robert Jr. said.
"When I was going to high school, a lot of people said they didn't see me graduating. It's a lot of showing people, I am going to do it and it's not too late."
For now, Robert Jr. will be in the Corps a while longer. He's enlisted for another four years and anticipates being deployed from his current station in Jacksonville, Fla.
"Right now I am teaching other Marines how to do the job that I know how to do.
Robert Jr. has no regrets about signing up with the Corps, and when he comes home to visit family and friends and people he went to school with, he tries to be a positive influence.
"I try to show them this isn't all. Go out and go see things. I'm not saying join the Army or Marines," Robert Jr. said. "But there's more to life than just staying home. I want to be an example. By all means, I want to show them that there is something out in the world and it's good. You just have to go out and get it."
Bj Lewis is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6535 or bjlewis@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.
Ellie