Photo By Andrew Miller | U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Ricardo Medinaferrer, a Personnel Administration and Retention...... read more read more
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CAMP DWYER, Helmand province, Afghanistan – Salt Lake City, Utah native, Marine Lance Cpl. Ricardo Medinaferrer, is currently serving a one year tour with Regimental Combat Team 5 in Afghanistan as a Personnel Administration and Retention specialist. Although he is one of the youngest Marines aboard Camp Dwyer at 18 years old, Medinaferrer has had a long, hard road to get to where he is today.
Not every family in America can be one of those perfect 1950s TV families. Medinaferrer was born in California, but with the economy heading south his mother, Beatrice, packed up him, his older sister Erica, and younger brother Manuel, and moved to Salt Lake City to live with an aunt.
Times were tough for everyone while they were there searching for a better life. Beatrice worked three jobs at times, and everyone chipped in when able to make ends meet. Medinaferrer remained loyal to his family throughout those hard times, taking it upon himself to be the man of the house.
“I was young, too young to work, so I had to do under-the-table jobs,” he recalled. “I worked on cars, changing tires and doing oil changes, I moved furniture, I asked to mow lawns, I did some gardening, I did some photography work like baptisms and sweet sixteens, and I helped in daycares because, like me, some of those kids didn’t have fathers either.”
Parts of Salt Lake City provided the family with a breath of fresh air. The city of almost 180,000 residents offered just about everything an outdoor enthusiast could dream of: camping, hunting, hiking, biking, skiing and snowboarding.
Unfortunately for Medinaferrer, it didn’t turn out to be all that his family had imagined. They settled into his aunt’s house in the neighborhood of Glendale in southwest Salt Lake City, only to find that in the past few years it had become one of the most crime ridden areas in the city and a hub for gang activity.
“It is a small neighborhood packed with crime,” Medinaferrer said. “I had to stay cautious of what was going on around me. It was hard on me going from school back to my house without having something stolen or getting into trouble.”
To counter the distractions around him, Medinaferrer made plenty of friends while attending East High School – the school he proudly boasts was “where Disney filmed all three High School Musicals.” Medinaferrer spent his time with the bookworms, the jocks and the drama club. He saw his circle of friends as a chance to meet a variety of people while avoiding negative influences.
“I still keep in touch with most of those guys through Facebook and email,” he said. “They all thought I was a superhero when I told them I joined the Marine Corps, like I could dodge bullets.”
Throughout high school, Medinaferrer said that academics were his niche. He tried sports but was vertically challenged. He did, however, find success in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, a program to which he dedicated three years of his life.
“Everyone knew me from JROTC because I did color guards, ceremonies, speeches, and it ultimately had an impact on my decision to enlist,” Medinaferrer said. “At first I just thought of it (JROTC) as nothing special, but once I started seeing how it worked and how each individual’s roles made the whole military work that fascinated me because I wanted to be a part of something important and know that what I was doing was making a difference.”
At 17 years old Medinaferrer graduated from East in 2010, a year earlier than his peers. Now eligible to enlist with his mother’s permission, he locked himself in his room for a week, studying to build up his Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test score.
Medinaferrer tells stories of envying a distant cousin he saw in his Dress Blues at a family gathering years ago. He remembers seeing drill instructors on television and wishing he could be a Marine.
He was about to get his wish.
After passing the ASVAB and obtaining his mother’s permission, he enlisted and shipped to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in November 2010.
“When I told my family they thought I was crazy. They have never experienced anything positive like this,” he said. “They have only experienced family or friends being locked away or having some kind of drug problem.”
After recruit training Medinaferrer had a short-lived reunion with his friends and family.
“When I got home everyone was happy and proud of me,” Medinaferrer said. “I visited friends and family, and a lot of them had gone down hill since I left; either got locked up again or pregnant; just being lazy and getting kicked out of their homes. When they saw me and saw what I had accomplished in just three months it was like a light flipped on in their heads; if he can do it I can do it. I tried to be a good influence on them and told them that what they want in life really can be done.”
After the brief visit home, Medinaferrer reported to Camp Johnson, Jacksonville, N.C. He would attend his Military Occupational Specialty school for two months of training to become a Personnel Administration and Retention specialist.
Upon graduating from his MOS school, Medinaferrer executed orders to Headquarters Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Camp Pendleton, Calif., June 1. Ironically, this was the same month he would have originally graduated high school.
Shortly after checking into 5th Marines, Medinaferrer was told he would be deploying to Afghanistan in a few short months. It was then that the young Marine realized he would have to grow up in a hurry. He had only a short time to learn his job and hone his organization and time management skills before the regiment deployed.
“My mom was so scared to hear of me coming over here,” he said. “But she would be proud, knowing that if anything ever did happen, at least it would have been worth something. She doesn’t even listen to music that much, but all of a sudden she was quoting Tupac telling me ‘If you can’t find something to live for, find something to die for.”
Medinaferrer is currently operating with Regimental Combat Team 5 aboard Camp Dwyer in southern Helmand province. He believes that every MOS in the Marine Corps is important, and his work reflects this belief. Medinaferrer uses his organizational skills to maintain correspondence, manuals, awards, promotion documentation, payment procedures, and a number of other things that affect every Marine and sailor with RCT-5.
“My SNCOIC (staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge) reminds me everyday that it should feel good to lay in my rack at night and know that the work that got done today needed to be done,” he said.
As busy as he stays in Afghanistan, Medinaferrer never forgets why he’s doing what he’s doing. His private fan club is waiting back home, and he never wants to let a single member down.
“My family is very proud of me, even more so I think since I am deployed,” he said. “My brother looks up to me, his friends look up to me, my sister’s friends look up to me, my mother’s friends look up to me. Even though I am the youngest, almost all of them still look up to me.”
His hard work, determination and positive outlook has led to respect from his supervisors as well.
“Medina is a good kid. He’s a hard worker,” said Gunnery Sgt. Victor Juarez, RCT-5 administration chief. “He’s just always smiling about something.”
Medinaferrer plans to focus his future on helping others. He plans to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice, Bio Technology, or another field that will allow him to positively influence others.
Editors Note: RCT-5 is assigned to 2nd Marine Division (Forward) which heads Task Force Leatherneck. The task force serves as the ground combat element of Regional Command (Southwest) and works in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. The unit is dedicated to securing the Afghan people, defeating insurgent forces and enabling ANSF assumption of security responsibilities within its area of operations in order to support the expansion of stability, development and legitimate governance.
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.20.2011 10:54 |
| Story ID: | 78763 |
| Location: | CAMP DWYER, HELMAND PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 211 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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