Meet Marine Corps veteran Armando Garcia, a dual-branch warrior who served 30 years in the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps. In this episode of Urban Valor, Garcia recounts his incredible journey from Desert Storm to Fallujah, including surviving a grenade blast, building military infrastructure, training future Marines, and even serving alongside his own son in Iraq.
From enlisting to escape poverty to being handpicked by General “Mad Dog” Mattis for Ranger School, Garcia’s path includes everything from infantry combat to drill instructor duty to command-level strategy in some of the Marine Corps' most intense operations.
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Video Chapters:
0:00 – Bomb Crater Crash & Military Beginnings
0:26 – Childhood in Del Rio, Texas
1:34 – First Enlistment in the Air Force
5:07 – Transition to Marine Corps
7:27 – Boot Camp and Early Lessons
10:10 – Infrastructure Design at Camp Pendleton
12:31 – Reenlistment & Weapons Company Role
20:30 – Desert Storm Deployment
30:21 – Life as a Drill Instructor
40:38 – Selected by General Mattis for Ranger School
50:20 – Warrant Officer Commission & Iraq Deployment
58:05 – Battle of Fallujah Prep & Firefight
1:11:00 – Memorials, Sacrifice & Coming Home
1:20:44 – Post-Service Reflections & Mental Resilience
1:26:27 – Final Words on Brotherhood & Purpose
#military #warstories #urbanvalor #usmarines #warstories
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