WEBVTT

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many people who joined the Marine Corps

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are already american citizens but

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others take the oath of enlistment

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years before pledging the oath of

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allegiance colors . Sergeant Rolando

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ventura , the non commissioned officer

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in charge of regimental combat team .

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Sixties administrative section was born

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in El Salvador and came to United

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States when he was 11 in search of a

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better life growing up . He was uh we

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were poor I mean but still you know we

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live kind of comfortably because mama

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was just used to you know send money

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back so you know we weren't that poor

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but he was tough you know tough I think

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I bought it right now . He was tough

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stomach . Sergeant Ventura became a

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marine at 19 when he joined the Marine

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Corps . He was only a legal resident

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and not yet a citizen . I joined the

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Marine Corps co you know I was Trying

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to go to school working two jobs that

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are factory and at a restaurant and I

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didn't want to do that for the for the

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rest of my life . Sergeant mature

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became a United States citizen . Two

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years ago It was an 11 year process but

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he is proud to be a citizen . I chose

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to become a citizen because you know uh

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like everybody like my family was a

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citizen already you know my mom is a

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citizen , my brother , my wife , my

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daughter . So you know like it was like

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the right thing to do you know like I'm

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already serving the United States

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Marine Corps so you know might as well

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become a citizen even though he was

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deployed to Afghanistan Sergeant mentor

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makes the most of it by working out and

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taking college classes . So now I'm not

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sure yet , but I would love to do 20

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years . I would love to do uh 20 years ,

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you know , I like what I'm doing ,

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although he is still unsure of what the

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future has in store for him . Sergeant

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venturi's sure about one thing . He's

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proud to be an american and proud to

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serve the country . He now calls home

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For Regimental Combat Team six . I'm

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corporal ed Gallo .