Tylor Holstein [Part 2]

I was born in price Utah on April 10, 1987 to Becky Martinez and Cliff Holstein, their marriage was short lived and they divorced when I was 3 years old. I lived with my mom for a year or so, but at that time my mom could no longer care for me. l ended up going to live with my grandparents, Nick and Mary Martinez, until I was 8 years old. My mom regained care of me and we moved to Trinidad, Colorado for about a year and half. That didn’t last long because my mom had issues with substance abuse and wasn’t able to care for me once again. Purposefully, I started to get into trouble in school while living in Trinidad with my mom. I knew if I got kicked out of all the schools in Trinidad (it was a small town) I would eventually have to be sent to live with my dad in Clearfield/Clinton, Utah. I was right, and that is where I would stay until I was 18 years old.
I grew up in Utah. I had a solid group of friends, my dad worked himself to the bone to provide for me and my sister.
My life changed on September 11, 2001, like so many others. I had always said I wanted to be a Marine, after 9/11, I thought we were at war. I’ve always been someone who loves history. I knew guys joined at 14, 15, 16. So after school I rode my bike to the recruiting station. I had to ride my bike because I got kicked off the bus for fighting. Walked into the recruiting office, asked if I could join. Was told to come back in 2 years. So I stayed connected to the recruiters and did the delayed entry program. I played football in high school. Sophomore year I was on the practice squad hardly played, but my goal was to give the starters a hard proactive. Junior year I played a little more. Worked hard. Before my senior year we went to a football camp at southern Utah university, I was playing linebacker at the time. Coach J pulled me aside with coach F and said they wanted to switch me to Defensive end. They said I’d play more, I took it and became a starter. After our senior I got the most improved player, I was proud of working my way up.
October 18, 2005 I stepped on the yellow footprints of MCRD. I graduated in January of 2006. I don’t remember the date. Went to the school of infantry. One of my friends was having a hard time and left, went UA. Myself and one other Marine went to get him. I was in constant contact with the cadre. We returned and I was recycled to delta company. Where I met men who would become my brothers. After SOI we took a short bus ride to camp Horno, joined the best battalion(my opinion is biased lol). 3rd battalion 1st Marines, Lima company. I was placed in first platoon. I was surrounded by men who fought in Fallujah in November 2004. It felt like I was surrounded by giants. We did our work up deployed.
We left on 20th birthday. Started on a ship, went to Guam and Singapore. We arrived in Kuwait in May of 2007. Our deployment was interesting to say the least. I was injured on June 20th. We lost some great men over the course of that deployment. Which again wasn’t the most kinetic. Other were affected in different ways later.
When we arrived back in the states in November of 2007, it was nice coming home. My oldest son was 4 months old. It was a nice time. Problem is I knew something was off. I knew something was off with me, but at the time it was frowned upon to seek help. January 26, 2008 a Marine commuted suicide in the barracks. I’ll never forget the “talk” we had after. It went the way of basically man up. Completely discouraged us from seeking help.
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