 My name is Elisha Lane Ray, Jason Meyer, Sergeant Cedric Haller, Staff Sergeant Jose Bara. Originally coming up I had no idea what the military was. I didn't really know anything about it. I've seen people join the Army, but coming up in Chicago I didn't get that one-on-one experience with the military. I was initially going to join the Air Force, but I ended up running into a Marine recruiter first and the rest was history. There was always that pull in my entire life that I wanted to join the service at some point and give back to my country. And at 22 years old it's time to start digging into something I put roots into and grow with. There's an immense sense of pride and a bit of an ego that comes with being a Marine because of our illustrious history. I think I fight for those before us. When I look at World War II and just the people that have come before us, I think that's very inspiring and just continuing that legacy. We also fight for our families, I believe. We're not doing our part in protecting our families. And I guess the biggest hardship would be when you have to get deployed and you have children or you miss your first child's birth. You may not see the big picture doing your job day in and day out, but at the end of the day when the project is done, the mission is accomplished, you can sit back and say, I had a part in that. It's unreal at times. Just when you think it's gotten to the point where it can't get any better, it continues to get better. My mom says, yeah, your brother says he's proud of you, he won't say it to your face, but he's proud of you. These past four years have been an adventure for me. All the places I've been, all the great wonderful people I've met, all the great memories I've had, I realized towards the end of my contract that I wasn't ready to let that go. And I'm very curious to see where the next four years takes me. You're wearing something that's earned. You can't just go buy this at the store. And to think that my daughter thinks so highly of me, wanting to wear my boots, wanting to wear my shoes, it makes a big difference. You wear it with a little bit more pride. At the end of the day, it's all worth it because what other profession do people come and thank you for your service? I mean, that still, every time somebody does it, it's like the first time they did it. I'm pretty proud to be where I'm at, and I appreciate everything about it.