Ryan Schippert

Even with a family history of service in the Armed Forces, Ryan Schippert discovered he was his family’s very first Marine. When he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in July 2006, it was somewhat of a natural progression for him. Ryan had watched numerous family members serve while he was growing up, and 9/11 was the event that really pushed him toward the military. For the next eight years after enlisting, Schippert was based out of North Carolina twice, deployed to Iraq twice, and also spent time based in Hawaii.

When he was a young boy, Ryan worked alongside his grandfather in his mechanic shop and gas station. Those skills he learned from day one greatly assisted in his position as Motor Transport Operator, driving nearly everything while in the Marines. He also went on to serve as a Motor Transport Chief for the School of Infantry in Hawaii following his last deployment to Iraq. And now after being honorably discharged as a Sergeant in September 2014, those same skills young Ryan received from his grandfather have translated seamlessly into his civilian career as a diesel mechanic.

Like most veterans, Ryan reveals that one of the things he misses the most from his time in the Marines is the closeness among the servicemen and women. “Military is a brotherhood,” he tells. “These are people that you work with day to day and the same people that your life rests in their hands and theirs in yours. It gives you a sense of belonging – you had a purpose, and you knew exactly where you stood.”

Though not the same purpose as that in his Marine days, Schippert’s main purpose now revolves mostly around his family. He and his wife, Kaysie, their two children, Jordynn and Aiden, along with their four-legged children, Karlee and Panda, just recently joined the Forney Family last July. He is hopeful that future generations, especially Jordynn and Aiden, will see the sacrifices made for them. “I want them to have the ability to really understand that there are a lot of us who sacrificed their lives, their time, and everything else to give them the ability to excel and have every opportunity they could ever dream of,” he says.

Schippert’s days as an active Marine helped shape him into the man he is today, one with a strong work ethic and one who is able to be in control of his emotions. Being a Marine, however, is certainly not for the faint of heart, but Schippert has no regrets when it comes to his years in the Marine Corps. “Given the chance, I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” he remarks.