Sailor escapes hardship to thrive in U.S. Navy

Story by Cpl. Ryan Turnage

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CAMP RAMADI, Iraq – Coming of age in a broken home cluttered with adversity and hard-learned lessons, the struggles of a young corpsman from Regimental Combat Team 6 forged character that has proven useful on his path upward in the U.S. Navy.

            Once he realized his life needed direction, Petty Officer 3rd Class Randy L. Nash, Jr., the RCT-6 Regimental Aid Station supply petty officer, focused his efforts toward a new life as a corpsman. Today, he serves as alongside the Marines and sailors of RCT-6, though, not long ago, he was struggling to keep his feet planted in one state.

            Nash experienced life on the road at a young age, constantly packing bags and relocating. At age14, Nash entered Sequoyah High School in Madisonville, Tenn., for the start of his freshmen year. Before the end of his first semester in December of 2000, disputes with his father forced him to relocate to Old Town, Fla.

A difficult home-life led to Nash moving back and forth from Tennessee to Florida, alternating between spending time with his father and his mother. Nash went on to change schools nine times during his high school years, but surprisingly enjoyed the change of scenery each time.

“I’ve always been a ‘people-person’ so I loved changing schools and meeting new people,” said Nash.

Nash eventually planted roots long enough to graduate from Seabreeze High School in Daytona, Fla., where he was living with his mother. He was the only high school graduate in his immediate family

Faced with a challenging childhood, Nash was forced to mature quickly.

“My mother was going through some rough times, so I decided to stay with her rather than further my education,” he said.

Nash’s father, in the meantime, was a recovering alcoholic who was sober for nearly four years. During a brief phone conversation, Nash’s father had spoke of his relapse with alcohol. The next day, Nash’s mother received a phone call from the Madisonville Police regarding his father’s suicide. Though he had just graduated from high school, his father’s death had brought Nash’s life to a screeching halt.

“Times were pretty rough when my father was alive, but after his death I lost sight of any future I might possess,” said Nash.

Consumed by his family’s misfortune, Nash temporarily lost focus of his future goals. Before he knew it, a year had passed and he had done nothing to improve his life.

“I had promised myself that I would help my mom for a little while after I graduated, but then I would either try college or join the military. One day I realized it had already been a year since I graduated and I was nowhere in life,” Nash recalled.

That day, Nash went to a U.S. Navy recruiter’s office and enlisted without hesitation. He went to boot camp in February 2006 at The Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois. Nash did not enjoy the winters in Illinois.

“So everyone gets a good mental picture: there was snow everywhere, it was about 10 degrees below freezing, 20 mph winds, and everyone was wearing ski masks; it looked like a terrorist camp,” he described.

Existing traits reinforced by the Navy and discipline instilled in him during basic training increased his potential to succeed in the military.  He arrived at the 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., in October of 2006, and left three months later in January of 2007 for a 13-month deployment to Fallujah, Iraq.

“During that deployment I was a general sick-call corpsman, so I did a lot more work with combat operations,” said Nash.

Currently on his second deployment with RCT-6, this time to Camp Ramadi, Iraq, Nash tries to utilize his time off with others who share his love for music. Nash makes time to play his guitar with his band, entertaining Marines and competing in talent shows.

Nash plans to attend a Navy “C” school, an advanced secondary school in which sailors learn more specific skills within their military occupational specialty. Nash went on to say he wants to take the skills he acquired in the Navy and apply them as a civilian.

“I was taking some nursing courses in high school and I want to continue my previous goal of becoming certified,” Nash said.

While he continues to better himself as a Navy corpsman, Nash works towards larger goals, not forgetting the struggles and accomplishments he underwent along the way.

For more information on the ongoing mission in Iraq’s Al Anbar province, visit www.iimefpublic.usmc.mil/iimeffwd.