Three Desert Hot Springs High School graduates receive Marine enlistee grants, awards
Kendall Flynn
DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Three graduates from the Desert Hot Springs High School class of 2025 just completed Marine Corps Boot Camp on Friday.
Their Master Sergeant Terrance Simmons at DHSHS said it was by chance all three of them ended up in the same platoon for boot camp. Simmons said usually their contracts would have to add a “buddy system,” meaning they had to go to the same boot camp. That was not added in this case.
The three men, Private First Class Jose Diaz, Jr., Private First Class Jeremy Minjarez and Private First Class Samuel Sosa, went through the MCJROTC programs at DHSHS. From going to school to boot camp, they said it created a bond together like none other.
“When times were tough, I looked at them and they were going through it,” Sosa said. “It made it feel like a little bit easier, I wasn’t alone.”
“Honestly, I don’t think I would have made it through without them,” Diaz said. “They were just the motivation I needed to keep pushing through it all.”
Each Marine has a different story for wanting to join the U.S. Military, and their hoping they inspire others in the program to find what’s best for their future.
“I would be the second marine in my family. The first time my mom’s side,” Minjarez said. “So I wanted to carry on the military.”
“Honestly, I don’t really have a plan going out of high school, but I wanted to be independent,” Sosa said. “So, I believed that the military, would be able to help me become independent. So, I just ended up choosing the Marine Corps because of, the ROTC that I was in.”
“I joined the Marine Corps for my younger siblings,” Diaz said. “I want to show them – Due to the background that we grew up with…My family members, my siblings and I, that we basically grew up on the streets…I want to show them that whatever they wanted to do in life, they can do it as long as they put in the work and effort for it.”
The 1st Marine Division honored the Marines with enlistee grants and awards. They’ll now take their next step in their future as Marines. While they may no longer be assigned together, they plan to stay connected and keep helping each other through hard times.
Stay with News Channel 3 to hear what this honor means to them as they take their next step as enlisted Marines.