Park Forest man back after 'seeing the world'


May 10, 2009

BY CASEY TONER Staff Writer


Joseph Diazcabrera played with toy soldiers and action figures as a little boy growing up in South Gate, Calif.

It's no wonder why, as an adult, he enlisted in the Marine Corps before graduating high school in 2003.

"I needed my mom's signature to enlist," Diazcabrera said. "She knew that's what I wanted to do. She said 'I know what the deal is, where do I sign?' "

Now a Marine recruiter in Chicago Heights, Diazcabrera, 23, lives in Park Forest with his wife, Edith, and their two boys, ages 5 years and 3 months.

Diazcabrera said he joined the Marines because of their mystique and because he wanted to travel the world.

"For me, it was what I was looking for," Diazcabrera said.

Before he could leave the United States on assignment, Diazcabrera spent nearly a year training for his role, starting with boot camp.

Stationed at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Diazcabrera persevered through a series of exhausting rigors and trials.

"In boot camp, what you learn is the basics about what it is to be a Marine," Diazcabrera said. "You learn a lot about teamwork, you go through obstacle courses. You learn how to swim."

And walk. A lot. Diazcabrera said he either walked or marched everywhere during his training.

"We were always walking or marching or running," Diazcabrera said. "That's for three months. There's no cars, no scooters, it's all walking or marching or running to where you need to be."

After graduating boot camp, Diazcabrera was transferred to Camp Pendleton, Va., for three months of combat training in July 2003.

"You get to learn to shoot machine guns, throw grenades, use the compass, use a map, navigate through open land," Diazcabrera said. "We went on marches and hikes with 35 to 40 pounds in our backpacks."

After finished combat training, Diazcabrera enrolled in the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Ca. to become a field radio operator.

Starting in January 2004, Diazcabrera split time between the classroom and in the field, learning the nuances of radio communication.

"We simulated a command center," Diazcabrera said. "There's a lot of noise -- to put pressure on the students so they can set up an antenna and radio and make sure there's communications between one man and another."

In the command center, he said camp workers would slam books and chairs together to recreate the noises of a combat zone.

After finishing his training, Diazcabrera was deployed to Kuwait and then to Iraq in February 2004, where he worked as a radio operator in the Al Anbar province. He served with the First Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.

"That's what we did all day, making sure communications worked with the troops on the front lines," Diazcabrera said. "Maintaining radios, antennas and making sure we had enough batteries to keep the radios operating."

Diazcabrera also went on patrols with infantrymen through the sweltering desert.

"There's no gusts of wind coming in to cool you off," Diazcabrera said. "You're just standing there and the sun is beating on you and you're hoping for a gust of wind to pass by to cool you off. Even the shade was hot. You're always chasing the shadows to be a couple of degrees cooler, but it doesn't make a difference."

Diazcabrera left Iraq and came home in October 2004. Required by the military, he took courses to help readjust.

"It was like everything felt new again," Diazcabrera said. "You were away for such a long time, everything seemed new."

Diazcabrera became a marine recruiter in April 2008. Every month, he is required to recruit three Marines, and he said he enjoys the job.

"It gives me a chance to talk to kids from high school," Diazcabrera said. "I get to see myself when I was in school."

Casey Toner can be reached at ctoner@southtownstar.com or (708) 802-8816.

Ellie