My name is Roy Wesley Brady, Jr., and I served with the USMC with the 0311/0369 as an Infantry Unit Leader.

My father Roy Wesley Brady, Sr. was an Army MP in the mid 1970’s. I have two uncles that served with the Army during the Vietnam ERA. After I enlisted, one of my sisters joined the Army and became jump qualified. My brother is currently with the ARMY MP National Guard. My Sister, believe it or not, spent time in Afghanistan and was in combat before me due to the fact that I was at a non combat unit at the time. I belive she has two tours.

I enlisted in the delay entry program during high school and then after graduating in 1991, I was off to Paris Island SC and served August 15, 1991 to August 31, 2013. Most of my influence of joining the Marine Corp was through Naval ROTC in high school. I always looked up to the retired Marine that was teaching the Course Msgt Padgett. I saw the discipline and honor and still to this day, I am the only Marine in my family. Everyone thought I was crazy. But I wanted that higher standard of pride that Msgt Padgett had and that was being a US Marine.

The worst part for me was being a Staff NCO, as it would involve doing the inventory list of a Marine’s personal gear separating it from military gear to personal items and sending the items home to the parents that lost a son. Time after time and again, the dead or wounded had to be processed, and it was one to many times especially when you trained that Marine from day one. Then you have to close ranks and carry on. My greatest fear while serving was having the compound being hit by mortar attacks constantly and wondering if the roof was going to cave in at anytime.

The service experience and my training allowed me to make better junior Marines, so that the death toll wouldn’t rise during every tour or not have any death or wounded happen at all. I do have problems sleeping but it’s not due to nightmares but due to being on a routine in combat where you are up at all hours. There is not a set schedule for rest, which is fine because I always wanted to be alert. But now that I am a civilian, it’s hard to get a get decent amout of rest. The group pictures were taken in Okinawa, Japan from 1996 to 2000.

My homecoming and return from tours was welcoming, even though I was a loner and all I wanted was the keys to my room and some cold beer and think about the next time we have to deploy. But the people and organizations that support our deployments gave us a warm welcome. I appreciated it. It wasn’t about how I was treated. It was about the younger Marines and how they were treated. They deserve the best.

I recently retired and traveled to a few diffrent countries and picked up a part time job just to stay active. I live the simple life now and keep to myself.
~Roy Wesley Brady, Jr., USMC Veteran

We are very grateful to Roy for sharing his personal story and deeply proud of his journey in walking across country to raise money for combat wounded veterans participating in research on prosthetics, TBI and PTS. Please follow his efforts and noble cause through combatwounded.org/walk/

God Bless all who serve and keep us safe.

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