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A former service member's journey to finding his footing as a civilian

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Time now for StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative, recording and sharing the stories of service members and their families. After he was discharged from the Army in the mid-1990s, Marcus Priolo struggled to find his footing as a civilian. Marine Corporal Al Lejarde finished his service in 2009, and he also missed the sense of purpose that his military career had given him. Their struggles to cope led them both to a rehabilitation center in San Diego specifically designed for veterans, and that is where they first met and struck up a friendship. Priolo was in substance abuse treatment, and Lejarde had recently been laid off.

AL LEJARDE: At the time, I was just a lowly intern volunteer transitioning from one job to another. I was asked to be at this meeting. It was like, full house, all hands on deck. And there was this veteran in the far back corner, bald-head guy, goatee, tattoos, and he was jumping up and down. I was like, what's going on over here?

MARCUS PRIOLO: I was born to a heroin addict mother and was taken away from her. I grew up in group homes, foster homes, trips to juvenile hall. At 19 years old, I really had nowhere to go, and I longed to be around people. So I joined the military for the camaraderie. Coming out, the transition was very difficult. I felt like I was alone again, like I didn't have anything to live for. I was on an alcoholic binge and used some pretty hard drugs, and I lost my mind.

LEJARDE: I was called to help my coworkers for a veteran that was being asked to leave permanent housing because of a incident. So I show up, and guess who I saw?

PRIOLO: That would be me, a veteran that needed support. Go figure. I turn around, and there you are. And I'm like, Al. Yeah, I didn't know what was going on around me. I just knew that the only person I trusted was you.

LEJARDE: But that wasn't the happy ending.

PRIOLO: Correct. 'Cause it wasn't too far right after that, I was doing 80 down the freeway - mind you, the wrong side of the freeway - and I called you. And I was like, yo, man, I don't want to do this anymore. I just remember you telling me, just slow down. Pull over.

LEJARDE: I was like, hey, we've been here before. Let's...

PRIOLO: Yeah.

LEJARDE: ...Figure this out. And then you were MIA for a couple weeks.

PRIOLO: I believe I was in jail.

LEJARDE: Yeah. Never visited anyone before at a detention facility.

PRIOLO: Never got any visitors before, so when they said my name, I was like, what? I didn't know I had any friends. And then there you were again, man. You'd seemed to just pop up like some guardian angel in my life.

LEJARDE: I remember talking over the phone on the other side of this glass wall and saying, hey, man. What are we going to do now?

PRIOLO: And that gave me a spark of hope, like - you came to visit me. And that just showed me that, you know, regardless of me giving up on myself, people actually do care for me and are willing to go that extra step to try to help me. And I didn't ever think that I was worthy of that.

LEJARDE: Well, you are, Marcus. And I'll visit you anywhere, bro.

PRIOLO: I would not be here if it weren't for you, Al. I never wanted to wake up the next day, and now I look forward to it.

LEJARDE: I struggle through a lot, too. When I was going through some stuff, you gave me some wisdom and guidance. I learned a lot from you. And when I became a father for the first time, I looked up to you because you had a daughter, and I saw you wanted to be the best father. You knew that there was a lot that you needed to make up for. You've been an inspiration to me.

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SIMON: Marine Corporal Al Lejarde and U.S. Army veteran Marcus Priolo, recorded by StoryCorps in 2019 in San Diego. They both meet up regularly to volunteer with other service members and to spend time together with their families. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Scott Simon
Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.