In this moving episode of America’s Veteran Stories, Kim Munson sits down with retired Marine Sergeant Major Pepe Ramirez to explore a wide array of topics, from the pivotal roles that families play alongside their military spouses to the challenges faced during and after deployment. Pepe’s poignant narrative touches on his own experiences and decisions that have significantly impacted his life and the lives of those around him. As the conversation unfolds, the importance of acknowledging the sacrifices and stories of America’s veterans takes center stage, offering profound insights for listeners. Pepe Ramirez delves deep into his life story,
SPEAKER 03 :
world war ii korea vietnam the gulf war afghanistan and her other wars and conflicts america’s fighting men and women strapped on their boots and picked up their guns to fight tyranny and stand for liberty we must never forget them Welcome to America’s veteran stories with Kim Munson. These stories will touch your heart, inspire you and give you courage. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Here’s Kim Munson.
SPEAKER 09 :
And welcome to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. The show comes to you because I had the great honor in 2016 to accompany a group that accompanied a group of four D-Day veterans back to Normandy, France for the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. returned stateside realizing we need to record these stories, broadcast them, archive them, hence America’s Veterans Stories. So pleased to have in studio with me Pepe Ramirez, and we’re actually recording part two, I would say. Pepe, welcome. Thank you. And we just recently had rebroadcast an interview that we’d done, I think, in 2023 with you. It seems like just yesterday. And in honor of the fact that you were the keynote speaker at the Veterans Day event at the USMC Memorial. And so I thought, oh, my gosh, let’s rebroadcast that and then get you in and continue the discussion because so many people have really appreciated your perspective and your story. So it’s great to have you here.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you, ma’am. It’s a pleasure. And I just want to give a shout-out to my wife. Today’s our 31st wedding anniversary, so happy anniversary, Rose.
SPEAKER 09 :
Congratulations. And we’re prerecording this, and so this will broadcast here in a few days. And so happy anniversary. Thank you. And with that, in the last interview that we did, we talked about you and your wife. She really keeps the home fires burning, particularly when you were deployed. And I think that’s really important, Pepe, that we recognize it’s not just our military or the veteran. It’s also the family. It’s such a commitment.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, definitely. And part of the way I talk to veterans, I incorporate spouses. I feel that it’s a systems approach to taking care of veterans, and it’s so important that the wives are included because it affects the children as well. And it definitely affects the spouse because they suffer in silence, take care of the veteran as well as their children. And it’s very challenging. Sometimes they don’t have anyone to talk to or even express their thoughts or vent their frustrations. And that’s why when I talk to veterans, I mention the American military family as well as Project Sanctuary, Vets for Warriors, This Way, A lot of veterans and their spouses have some sort of resource. Vets for Warriors was General Graham. He was the General at Fort Carson, 4th ID. And he actually lost a son in Iraq, and he lost his son. from suicide. And so now he’s basically in charge of Vets for Warriors and it’s more of a peer support and they take care of the veterans.
SPEAKER 09 :
So, Pepe, just to recap from your last interview, you’d been in active duty Marines for 20 years, and really there was two stories that you had shared. One was when one of your commanding officers had asked you if you had women in your company, I guess, and your response was…
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so I was in Iraq. This is my first tour. I was first sergeant at the time. I was in charge of a logistics company. We had a shock trauma platoon, which included two surgeons, Five nurses, 20 corpsmen. I don’t know why I still remember that, but it was very specific. We had a mortuary affairs platoon. We had military police, MPs, combat engineers, EOD, and things like that. And I was with 1st Marine Division, RCT-7, Regional Combat Team 7. And… Sergeant Major Lucas came up to me and he said, for a sergeant, I hear you have females in your unit. And I looked at him, I said, Sergeant Major, I have Marines in my unit. And he looked at me like I just kicked him in the nuts. And he just nodded his head, smiled, and he said yes. And then several years later, I see him again. And I’m also a Sergeant Major. And he goes, Sergeant Major Ramirez, I still remember when you kicked me in the nuts. I thought, and he remembered that. I feel like, you know, when I took over for the INI Sergeant Major up here in Buckley, I told the Marines, I don’t care if you’re active duty, reserve, or INI, I’m going to treat you all equally as Marines.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. And I think that’s so important. Let’s talk about and near the end of our last interview, you talked about taking care of each other and you made some big decisions. You really walk your talk. So tell us again about that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, there was a Marine. He was deployed to Iraq, and unfortunately his buddy was killed right beside him. And he had body parts and blood all over him. Came home, tried to forget what he saw, experienced, and he took cocaine. He was a reservist. Needless to say, he turned himself in. He had the integrity for us to do the right thing. And he popped positive on drugs. And higher headquarters basically said the groups are major as well as the group commander said Marines don’t do that. So they were going to kick him out. And I said to my CO, I said, sir, we need to retain him until the EAS. He needs help. Unfortunately, they kicked him out. And I said, if you kick him out, I’m going to retire. And the group sergeant said, well, you need two years time grade to retire. And I said, I’ll have two years, a couple months. Well, you need 20 years. I said, I’ll have 20 years, a couple months. Then he said, well, you can’t leave until I find a replacement. And I said, according to ADSEP manual, you have four months. They kicked him out. And I put my resignation retirement paperwork in. find other ways to take care of veterans and their families. I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology while I was in. My master’s from University of Denver. I’m working on my doctorate degree now in psychology, and I’ve got a class and my dissertation left, and I’m hoping, I’m taking a little bit of sabbatical, but I’m hoping to return sometime next year.
SPEAKER 09 :
Remarkable. So what does this all mean? You’ve been helping veterans ever since you were no longer active duty. So tell us about that journey.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, the journey came from right when I retired. And I realized, you know, as you move up in rank, you figured, you know, you should be able to take care of your Marines and sailors and so forth. And as I moved up in rank, it became more political. they were more worried about their careers rather than taking care of their troops. And that’s what it came down to, just back to basics, remembering where you came from and, again, pursuing another career to help veterans That was my next mission because I’ve always thought about taking care of troops, and that’s very important. And I end up actually being offered a job as a combat operational stress control regional training coordinator for Marine Forces Reserve. The Marine Corps came up with that. It’s a cost program. The Army had battle mine at that time, and the Army soldiers basically considered it as suck it up, buttercup, you know, rather than trying to really process what was really going on. And I was traveling throughout the United States, the reserve component of the Marine Corps, and I taught pre-deployment briefs, re-deployment briefs, reintegration briefs to Marines and their families. And it became really wonderful. And unfortunately, they changed that position to a NAF position, and it was a huge pay cut. And there was no way I was able to maintain my home in Denver as well as trying to have a studio in Merrittie, Louisiana. It was funny because… My wife was like, you have an inflatable bed. And I said, it’s okay, hon. If there’s a hurricane, I could use it as a flotation device. So she kind of laughed about that. But, yeah, you make do with what you have. You sacrifice. She came to visit one time, and that’s the only furniture I had.
SPEAKER 09 :
Now, you were there because why?
SPEAKER 04 :
I was a combat operational stress control regional training coordinator for Marine Forces Reserve.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. So that’s why you had the place down there then. Yes. And you had one piece of furniture.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. It was wonderful. I mean, I roughed it up worse in different deployments and so forth. So, again, as Marines, our main motto also is not just Semper Fidelis, always faithful. It’s also a Semper Gumby. Always flexible.
SPEAKER 09 :
And that’s important. And resiliency as well. I think that’s important also. I’m not sure that we’re really teaching our young people resiliency.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I think that that is, like we talked about last time, you know, I know I was the black sheep of the family. I did things, and I remember thinking, you know, my mom was my first drill instructor. I’ll say that. She was. She disciplined me, and… I think I deserved it. It’s not like parents have to dissect, is this child abuse or is this discipline? And the child has to realize the same thing. Am I being disciplined or am I being abused? I mean, each parent has to be able to dissect that. I think we had, Rose and I had six children. Out of the six children, the youngest one was the only one that was spanked by me. And it was a terminalist time at that time. I had just come back from Iraq for my third tour. Our oldest son was diagnosed with cancer, and Rose was driving him to his chemotherapy treatment and so forth. And my youngest son decided he didn’t want to go to school that day. And I’m driving him up. He’s six years old. Actually, he’s five years old. And he’s going to kindergarten. And he said, you’re not the boss of me. I want mommy. And he used to be daddy’s boy. I mean, I remember driving to 2001. We were driving to Houston to visit my family, my mom and dad. And I would have to put my hand and reach out to him. Because he wanted daddy. So it was very challenging. And I understand, you know, I deployed. I remember him saying to me at one time, I was getting orders to your Buckley Air Force Base. And I remember he’s six years old. He comes up. He said, you come, you go, you mess things up. That was very devastating. And I could understand. And that’s the whole dynamics of deployments, how it affects the family and affects the children. And it’s so important to recognize that. Over the years we build our relationship and it’s still challenging but we’re healing and that’s the biggest thing, we’re healing. My children, I know they’ve been affected. My two daughters, I’m very proud of all my children. My two daughters, one of them, Stephanie, she finished her doctorate degree. Awesome. Nikki is working on her doctorate degree in computer science and engineering.
SPEAKER 09 :
All that easy stuff, huh?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, yeah. uh she got the brains from my my wife not me so but she’s she’s stubborn like me uh she’s more like a mini me and uh and i’m very proud of both of them my other son uh adrian He’s actually a pastor, and he was also nonconformist, you could say, while he was growing up. And he found his calling, and he’s now a pastor in Tennessee, in Clarksville. Tony’s working on becoming an x-ray tech, and Peter just finished his bachelor’s degree in psychology. And Rose is keeping herself busy making arts and crafts. She has little shops here and there, so very proud of her as well, too.
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Oh, that’s so awesome. I’m talking with Pepe Ramirez and Maureen, and we’re going to continue the discussion. We have these important discussions because we have many great sponsors.
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SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to America’s Veterans Stories. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. And did want to mention the Center for American Values, which is located in Pueblo, Colorado. They do a fabulous job honoring our Medal of Honor recipients and then also these great educational programs for our kids, homeschool and public school curriculum. to continue to instill these values of honor, integrity, and patriotism. The center is nonpolitical, nonpartisan. They’re just doing great work. More information, go to AmericanValueCenter.org. That is AmericanValueCenter.org. And I’m talking with Sergeant Major Marine Pepe Ramirez. And Pepe, several things. During the break, we were talking about Rose, your wife, and your 31st anniversary. That’s amazing. Six kids, husbands deployed, concerned for him, and she just really kept everything together.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, so like I said, my third tour, a week before I left for my third tour in Iraq, our oldest son was diagnosed with cancer. And I went to my battalion commander, and I basically asked if I could kind of bow this out. And he said, well, they really need you. And I’m like… Okay, so I went to talk to the family. My son basically said, Dad, you need to go. I’ll be here. How old was he? He was 23 years old. Okay. He was going to join the Air Force. In fact, he had like a month before he was going to join. And I deployed. Rose had to take care of the kids, drop off the kids at daycare and so forth, drive down from Lake Elsinore to San Diego. which is about maybe about 45 minutes to an hour and a half drive one way. And Marcos would get his chemo. Rose would come back, pick up the kids, go back to San Diego, pick up Marcos, and then head back up north. And gas was outrageous at that time. It was over $5 a gallon. And Rose focused on taking care of the kids. She didn’t mention to me that the vehicles had broken down. She wanted me to focus on my mission, taking care of the Marines as well as the sailors. That was under our command. she really very strong independent woman and she kept it together she really did and i thank her to this day um how we met it was kind of funny so i was i was married before and uh my first duty station was in okinawa going through a divorce um finalized the divorce came back home and uh I was home for 30 days, and I had a little RX-7 that was in the garage for two years, and I said, I need to get this thing fixed. There was this humming noise in the back. I had to drive from Houston to Quantico, Virginia. Kept putting it up, putting it off, and finally I said, I better get this thing fixed. So I’m driving along, and I was about to make a left turn to this other service station. And there was a car in the middle of the driveway. I had a little RX-7 two-seater. I couldn’t even make it to the left or right. I’m like, I started cussing that guy out, basically. And I said, all right, I’m going to keep going. I went straight, went to Firestone, and walked in there. And I saw Rose, and I fell in love. She had beautiful eyes, and I melted. And in hindsight, in retrospect, I That guy that was blocking the road was actually my guardian angel telling me, hey, knucklehead, you’re not supposed to be over here. You’re supposed to be over there. So again, I look at those as signs. And that’s very important. Because I think our loved ones try to give us signs. I remember filling up gas, and it was my daughter’s birthday, Stephanie’s birthday. And it came up to $38.83. I took a picture and sent it to my family. Stephanie was saying, I miss Marcos, and I sent it to them. And they said, Dad, there’s no way. There’s no way. I said, yes way. Marcus is saying happy birthday. Well, $38.83. Marcus was born on March 8, 1983. So that was a sign. And I tell veterans, I incorporate that with the veterans and tell them, look at the signs.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I want to hear just a little bit more about Rose, though. So you go into Firestone and you said she has beautiful eyes. Was she working there? Was she waiting for? Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it was funny, too, because she was putting off getting her car fixed as well, too, until that particular day. So we met because her dad was like, well, you need to go to this place. And so that’s the only place. And she lived maybe about 45 minutes away from that fire station, Firestone service station. And I lived maybe about 10 minutes away from there. So, again… Things happened for a reason. So you started talking.
SPEAKER 09 :
But you’re on a trip. No.
SPEAKER 04 :
Actually, I was getting ready to leave to drive to Quantico. Okay. And so that day was basically my last trip. two days before I had to leave. Okay.
SPEAKER 09 :
So… So you exchanged phone… This would have been in the old days where you exchanged phone numbers, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. In fact, she said she was kind of… She said she was naive that she gave me the phone number and she was like, oh, I shouldn’t have, but then we had our long-distance relationship. I was in Quantico and I would send her… flowers it was funny at that time I’d have like our date was I had $10 worth of quarters and that’s when you had to pay phone and you put the $10 I put the $10 of worth of quarters in there and that’s that’s basically our date and so how I proposed to her was it was on Easter Sunday I sent a big package to her mom and dad’s house and There was a big bear holding a box, and then she opened it up, and I said it was Easter Sunday. It was my birthday also. And she opened it up, and remember, I’m on the phone again, and she opened up the box, and There was a ring, and it said, will you marry me? And she was so excited that she said yes, and she hung up the phone. Oh, no. So all my quarters are gone. Okay. $20 worth of quarters, basically. And I’m like, well, at least she said yes.
SPEAKER 09 :
And for young people that don’t understand, it used to be that you would have to pay per minute for your… Now we have all this unlimited stuff, which is amazing. So Pepe Ramirez. How did you get the name Pepe?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it was kind of funny because… And I had a different name, and then it was changed because I was sick. And they changed my name again to, like, Joe or something like that. And I got worse. And then finally my dad said, hey, this is St. Filipe or something like that. And he took the last four letters. And ever since then, the worst I’ve gotten sick was probably like pneumonia. Other than that, COVID. But I’ve been very healthy. I’ve been very blessed with that. So that’s how I got that name.
SPEAKER 09 :
So he changed the name, and from that you recovered, and so that’s how you kept the name of Pepe.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, okay. And people would look at me like, is that your nickname? I said, nope, it’s my name.
SPEAKER 09 :
Your given name. And your father, Filipino.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, he was actually recruited by the U.S. Army during World War II to fight the Japanese using guerrilla warfare. And so the funny thing about him is, And a lot of veterans are the same thing, is they’re very proud. And he did not mention his exploits during World War II until after I joined the Marine Corps. That’s when he finally opened up. And he showed me his, it’s not his DD-214, but his service record paper. And it said guerrilla warfare on there. I’m like… Dad, how come you didn’t tell me about this? You weren’t ready. So, and I think a lot of veterans feel the same way. They don’t want to share some of their thoughts and feelings, their trauma. They don’t want to burden their family. I think that’s the most important part. They don’t want to burden their families. Just like when I came home, Rose and I were going to this retirement ceremony for Osiris Major, and there was this gunny that came out. And he said, hey, First Sergeant, how’s it going? Very enthusiastic, great, great guy, great Marine. And he goes, yeah, when you guys left, there was about a bunch of RPGs going after your plane. And I’m like, holy crap, shut. I was basically telling him, giving him signs, shut up, shut up. You know, Rhodes didn’t know about all that stuff. Oh, my gosh. And I was like… I was in shock, and Rose came up to me. She goes, how come you never told me that? And I said, I don’t know. I was acting dumb. But when the C-130 is going up and down sideways like a roller coaster, you knew something was going on. But again, as warriors, and I truly believe this, we want to protect our families as well. We want to make sure that we don’t want them to – feel the trauma that we’ve had and that’s our way of protecting them by not saying or sharing our thoughts and feelings and then what happens just like I said when that gunny came up to me and he said first arms you know and there was some enthusiasm there and I think that camaraderie is taken differently from our spouses. It’s a different kind of relationship. And it makes the spouses feel less and i apologize that so much because it’s not that i don’t want to or veterans don’t want to share it’s just our mindset is to protect them right
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, I can see how that could, because a spouse wouldn’t want to know everything. But yet, I’ve also learned over all these interviews that there’s no way that anyone can understand combat properly. unless they’ve gone through combat. And so as much as a spouse would want to understand, I get the not burdening thing. I can see how that can become a bit of a rub. So I think probably understanding that, the two people in the marriage, I think that understanding that is probably key to the healing on that. Yes? Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
I totally agree. And just like when the doctor finally came up and said, we have to prepare for your son’s passing. And Rose at that time, prior to that, she said, you don’t care about our son. But I was holding it together. Wow. And I told her. That’s when I finally broke down. And that’s when tears started flowing down my face. I felt that knight in shining armor. I had that kink in my armor now.
SPEAKER 09 :
You wanted to save him, but you couldn’t.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it was just the perspective. I’m supposed to be the rock. I went to jungle survival training. I was a black belt instructor in the Marine Corps, instructor trainer for water survival. I was a drill instructor. And again, I was a Marine. I told her, you know, you’re falling apart, you’re crying, you’re focused on our son and the children, and I wanted to be that rock for you. And now I can’t be because I’m losing it. And, again, my wife is so intelligent, so smart, so strong, and she said, you’re human. Mm-hmm. You’re still my knight in shining armor. You’re still my marine. You’re still my rock. But now that I see this side of you, it makes you whole again. This is the husband that I married, and that was very profound. That was freedom for me because, yes, we have our unconditional love for each other, but what she said was very empowering, and she gave me that power. You know, that she still treats me as that alpha male, not someone that, you know, what they call henpecked husband or a beta male or whatever. She let me be that strong dad, that strong husband, that knight in shining armor, that human, that moraine.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, my gosh. Pepe Ramirez, this is totally powerful, and I think it’s so important that people hear this. And we are blessed to bring these stories to the airwaves.
SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
God bless America. And that thy love
SPEAKER 09 :
And welcome back to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. Another great sponsor of the show is Hooters Restaurants, and they’ve been sponsors of both the shows for many years. How I got to know them, it’s a very important story about freedom and free markets and capitalism and politicians, bureaucrats, and interested parties and how those two things can rub against each other in public policy. And so you can find that story at KimMunson.com. But they have five locations, Loveland, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster, and Colorado Springs. Great place to get together with friends for their lunch specials. Talking with Pepe Ramirez, Marine, Sergeant Major Ramirez. And we were talking about Rose, who is really a remarkable woman. And she’s also an entrepreneur. So just tell us a little bit about her business.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so part of what we talk about also empowering veterans and their families is having like a side hustle. And she uses her talents, what she calls, she has a store at Painted Tree Boutiques. It’s at 104 and 25. It’s near Texas Roadhouse. It used to be Bed Bath & Beyond. So up north, 104th? Yes. Okay. It’s right next to Lowe’s. Okay. And it’s called My Kitty and I. And the other store that she has is called Mystic U. And she makes all kinds of different things that Mystic U is more motivational about. Your uniqueness and how you’re able to project that. And my kitty and I are focused more on cats. Okay. So little knickknacks and so forth. Okay.
SPEAKER 09 :
Are there websites?
SPEAKER 04 :
She’s working on a website. Okay. But she’s kind of getting overwhelmed because there’s a lot of other materials that needs to be. She’s making the products. We just opened up another one in Colorado Springs.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. So she’s busy doing product.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. Well, I love that entrepreneur side hustle, as you say. Mm-hmm. Pepe, let’s talk a little bit about your deployments. So tell us about those.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, the deployments, so all I could tell you is that before we deployed, I made sure that, and I was thinking outside the box, and I had family day. I had the Marines’ spouses come in. I had Navy Federal Credit Union available. The marine readiness, family readiness there had all kinds of resources, nonprofits that may help them if they were in need and just gave them an overview as far as how a deployment was going to look like. That prevented a lot of issues for the families. That’s great. And then when we deployed, I would tell my Marines, I said, you know, do the snail mail thing. Write them. We would use the cardboard from the MREs as postcards. And we didn’t have to worry about stamps because we would just put our address and so forth and then send them home. And my second deployment, we were in Fallujah. And, well, I would just say my first deployment, we were in Kuwait. We were getting ready to go to Iraq. I remember we left at zero, dark 30, and I had my own vehicle. I drove my own vehicle. I had my own Hummer. I didn’t want a driver. Yes, I was a first sergeant. Some first sergeants had their drivers, and I said, no, I don’t want a driver. I want to drive myself. I learned how to drive a 7-ton as well. I remember, I didn’t know this, but the Marines were very motivated when they saw me on that 7-ton. They’re looking at me like, First Sergeant, why are you on a 7-ton? I said, well, I want to be able to drive this thing if I’m the A driver. And if you get hurt, I want to be able to drive this truck out of the kill zone. And they were very respectful about that.
SPEAKER 09 :
Don’t you think that it speaks volumes when those that you are in charge of, that you show that you’re willing to do what you’re asking of them? And I’ve heard that Patton, General Patton, that that was the case with him. He didn’t really ask his men to do something that he wouldn’t do himself. You probably know better than I do, but that’s the story I’ve heard.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, leadership example, being able to be with the troops. I remember we were, you know, we did all kinds of things. The CO and I were very proactive as far as understanding and learning about each Marine’s life and their backgrounds and so forth. And Learning the different MOSs, I understand what they go through. Like MPs, they taught me tactics as well too and how they do their outbound and bounding techniques and stuff like that. All I could say is that there was so much knowledge there. And I just want to point out also the reserves. And this is very important. So they come back from deployment. They do their briefs and so forth. They demobilize. Now they’re in the middle of Nebraska or home time, USA. And I remember this one Marine coming up to me one day and he said, first Sergeant Major, he goes, you know, I’m a carpenter, and I have to sell my business because I’m getting deployed. And he’s a corporal. And I have huge issues with that. And… I remember him coming home, another Marine coming home, and he went back to work, and one of his coworkers came up to him and said, Hey, so how many people did you kill? And, you know, I think it may be glamorous, but… in a civilian’s perspective, but in our perspective, it isn’t glamorous. Basically, surviving. Basically, you know, it comes down to the basic instinct of survival. And when… There’s so many things that I could talk about. Our first deployment, General Mattis was the 1st Marine Division Commanding General. And the rules of engagement was, hey, someone shooting at you, you shoot back. Second deployment, I was in Fallujah, 2004. And… Yeah, so I’m sorry. I’ve got so much things in my head right now. So I came home. We were the last company to come home from my battalion. And not even a week after I got home, my CEO said, you’re being transferred to another company. You’re deploying in four months. And this is October now. And I did not say anything to Rose because Thanksgiving was coming up, Christmas, New Year’s, and so forth. And I remember January 2nd when I finally told her, and she basically chewed me out. And I basically said I didn’t want to ruin, and again, the same concept of protecting your family and so forth. And again, I may be wrong in this perspective, and I’m pretty sure a lot of veterans feel the same way, active duty members as well. And we wanted to protect our families. And it was hard because I said, you know, I didn’t want to ruin it for us. I didn’t want this impending doom when we celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. And so I apologized. I profusely, basically. And it was really tough. My third deployment was a little bit rougher because that’s when Marcos was going through chemo. My Marines would—I remember his birthday— I shaved my head. I cut my hair. When I was a drill instructor, I would cut my hair. I had to save money. And so when I was in Iraq, I shaved my head and took a photo. Staff basically said, you know, I’ll take a photo. My Marines came up to me afterwards and said, first sergeant, did you mess up your hair? And I said, no, I didn’t. And next thing you know, I see a bunch of bowling balls coming out. They shaved their heads. including the CO, and we took a picture. We sent it to Marcos saying happy birthday. My CO came up to me afterwards. He said, you’re an equal opportunity asshole, but your Marines love you and they respect you. You treat them with dignity and respect, and you treat them like Marines. And I said, that’s the best compliment I could ever have, sir. Wow. And he said that you’re fair, you know, and that showed. I didn’t expect that from my Marines to do that. They didn’t have to shave their heads. But, again, it was that respect that they provided. And it was… It was a very humbling experience, and I was very honored by that. And I still remember those. I remember my Marines. They were so motivated to support me and my family.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s amazing. So, Pepe, just three deployments. Is that right?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. So the first was Kuwait.
SPEAKER 1 :
2003.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. For how long? We were there. We got to Kuwait, I think, January, went to Iraq, March, ended up going to Baghdad right on my birthday. And we hit Baghdad on my birthday there. We went to Adewinia, and then there was a cleric that was killed, and we went to Najaf. Came home in October of that year, and it was, okay, Iraq is very dusty. I remember flying back home. We went to Shannon, Ireland. We were coming home, and the plane was landing. I look outside the window, and it was beautiful. You could see the green grass, and everything was so green, unlike Iraq. It was just dust, dust, dust all over the place. It was so soothing. And I remember Shannon Ireland, the citizens there, were so grateful. We walked out of the plane and they started clapping their hands. And again, we were very humbled by that. We were very joyous of the support that we had. We were coming back home. And it felt great. It really did. The country was a much better place. We were together. We support each other. Unfortunately, today, we’re so divided. It’s unfortunate.
SPEAKER 09 :
We’ve got to come back and unite. So I tell you what, let’s go to break. I’m talking with Pepe Ramirez. And this has gone so quickly, but it’s just fascinating and so pleased to get to bring these stories to the airwaves.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
From the mountains to the prairies,
SPEAKER 09 :
And welcome back to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. Pleased to have in studio with me Pepe Ramirez, retired Marine, Sergeant Major. And we were talking about your deployments. You had three deployments. The first was 2003, basically January to October. What about the other two?
SPEAKER 04 :
So the next one, like I said, not even a week after I got home from my first appointment, I was leaving four months later. So February timeframe. And I was there for about nine months.
SPEAKER 09 :
So February, probably 2004? Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I was at Fallujah at the time. And I want to kind of focus on how the family dynamics is. So Peter was three years old at the time. And Rose would tell him, Daddy’s working. And I remember Rose told me the story that he would – Because whenever I came home, they would race to come meet me, the kids. And Peter would almost be the last one because he’s the youngest. And one day, the door opened up. It was my oldest daughter that came. And Peter was the only one running towards the door. And he was like, I’m going to win this time. I’m going to win this time. And… It was my oldest daughter walked in. Peter sat down like a little puppy dog waiting for me to come home. And he fell asleep waiting for me. Rose told me that story. And again, like I said, I want to really focus on the family deployments. Yes, we could talk about that. There’s all kinds of intricacies, taking care of veterans, I mean, taking in Marines and Sailors at the time. There was several suicides. During the deployment? During the deployment, yes. One Marine received a Dear John letter. And needless to say, he killed himself. And we had to talk to the Marines. um explaining them situations and things like that i remember one of our convoys was hit and um we lost a marine and it was uh Eli Angel, he was hit from Nebraska, Lance Corporal. And it was tough. I had to talk to Marines. CO broke down. He pulled me to the side. He broke down. And I tried to hold it together myself. And things happened. My third deployment had two Marines that were married, and it was pretty tough. I was an ISR major, and one of the names came up, husband and wife. It was a husband. Glenn Martinez, he grew up here in Colorado, graduated from University of Denver, I mean University of Colorado Boulder. I couldn’t believe that he was killed. I think the toughest part for me was handing that American flag to his spouse, Landis, I served with both of them. I think that was the toughest thing that I’ve ever had to do. Both of them had bachelor’s degree. Their goal was to be enlisted first and became officers. Well, she did that. I think she’s at least a major now, so maybe even higher. Very proud of her. Glenn Martinez.
SPEAKER 09 :
We owe so much. We take so much for granted. And we owe so, so much. Pepe, as you were the keynote speaker at the USMC Memorial Foundation’s event for Veterans Day, you shared a message that I thought was so inspiring. So share that with our listeners. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, like I said, it’s a time to remember, and we talk about the Marine Corps being innovators, amphibious landings and so forth like that. General Gray instituted MPS ships, basic warrior training, General Krulak, strategic corporal, the crucible. I remember being the drill instructor of the crucible. We were the first company, Charlie Company, in San Diego to do that. I had two recruits, actually two new minted Marines, and they were coming back from our celebration from the pinning of the Eagle Globe and Anchor. And they were broken. I didn’t know that at the time. They came after we had their foot checks. They disappeared, came back, and they were in crutches. They had stress factors. And so that’s a tenacity. That’s the will to accomplish the mission. That’s the Marines that we’re actually making this time rather than making the boot camp a little bit. harder, made it a lot more challenging. That was General Krulak. General Mundy, Marine Corps martial arts program made us more lethal. But again, it’s time for remembrance. It’s time for healing. I just want to say again, thank you to the Vietnam vets. Thank you so much for You know, you weren’t respected when you came home, but you made sure never again will that happen to other service members when you came home. It’s you that help us travel and be respected. It’s because of you. So now all I can tell you is it’s time for healing. Tactics, we know tactics. We understand tactics. So… The devil plants seeds in your mind. So there was a Vietnam vet that came up to me one day and he said, you know, I did some horrible things in my life. And I said, sir, you know, do you have a wife? And he said, yes. Do you have children? Yes. Do you have grandchildren? I said, yes. Well, those are signs God has already forgiven you. And he’s giving you those gifts. Those are gifts. Please understand that. So now that we understand the tactics and the weapon of the seed of doubt from the devil, now let’s go ahead and use our weapons from God. And the first thing is love. Love yourself. You deserve it. Next one is peace. Find peace in your heart, your mind, your body, and spirit. You deserve that as well. You’ve served. Again, God has given you those gifts. That’s another weapon to fight that seed of doubt that the devil is planting in our minds. Next one is kindness. Kind to yourself. You deserve it. You deserve to be kind to yourself. Live life. You need to enjoy life. Last thing and the most heaviest arsenal weapon that you could ever have is forgiveness, forgiveness of ourselves and others. I think that’s the most important part. You have to forgive yourself. And, again, look at all the signs. I talked about the $38.83. The signs are there. Don’t be blinded. Don’t be blinded by all these things that’s going on around you. And again, God bless you all so much. You are being protected. You’re here for a reason. That’s why you’re here.
SPEAKER 09 :
I so agree. I do say it on my other show that we were made for this moment in history. Pepe Ramirez, remarkable story, remarkable man, remarkable wife, remarkable family. Thank you for my freedom. Thank you for loving America. And thank you for all that you do for us.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it was an honor, and it’s a humbling experience to be here. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I am writing two books. One of them is Understand Military Culture for Therapists, the other one’s for Leadership. Well, stay tuned.
SPEAKER 09 :
We have to do a part three, okay?
SPEAKER 04 :
Hopefully, they’ll be ready by Memorial Day.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. It’s a date. And again, Pepe Ramirez, thank you so much. My friends, indeed, we stand on the shoulders of giants. So God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you for listening to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure to tune in again next Sunday, 3 to 4 p.m. here on KLZ 560 and KLZ 100.7.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
