Commanding Officer Herrera's Page

First and foremost, thank you for taking interest in the program. 

I am relieved to hear that more of Los Angeles' problems with gangs and drugs is being publicized in the news and that our community leaders are conducting meetings to decide over programs and distribution of monies. This issue has been bandaged for too long.  Our streets have been infested with gangs and drugs for decades--terrorizing our families, and it is time we invest in solutions.  I am proud to say that all of our youth leaders at the Los Angeles Young Marines have been rolling up their sleeves and doing their part for the past seven years.  Yes, it is a learning process and work in progress, but the beauty of it is that it is done with adult leaders who care.  This has been the first requirement of anyone in our program--that they CARE!  Fortunately, human beings say everything with their eyes, and we hear them load and clear, when they tell us they want to make a difference!  This human identity has enabled me, particularly, to encourage wonderful contributing leaders to join this program.

We don't have millions of dollars at work, at least not in monetary means but rather in heart.  Many of our youth leaders, if not all of us, barely make it to drills with the little gas in the tanks of our vehicles.  However, we have been able to make a difference in our communities.  Our pages will soon be filled with the success stories of youths who entered our program with dreams of a life of gangs, drugs, a school drop-out, a ghetto life they felt was destined for them, and they found a new paradigm, way of looking at life without remedies for continued despair. 

More than I am proud of our leaders, whom I bare with great admiration, I am even prouder of our youths.  When a Young Marine brings me her/his report card with a jump in their gpa, I have to (don't tell them this) walk away immediately after congratulating them before the tears over strain my eyes, because I know, right there and then, that they will make it in our world, where education is the rifle of their future:  They will be able to fight their way out of a cycle of poverty into a world of peace and prosperity.  With the Grace of God, I am proud to say that I can hand you a bucket full of tears.

Thank you again for visiting, and I ask that you keep us in your hopes and prayers.

Semper Fi,

Ramon Herrera/Commanding

Writings:

Why Should They Be Mad

MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE

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Last modified: 12/23/08