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VICTORIA, Australia -- People from across the United States face
challenges that influence and define who they will become in the
future, and for some their destiny is controlled by their past. For
Sgt. Jacques Yves Duroseau however, he persevered and reached his
goal of becoming a Marine despite his challenges.
Duroseau,
a Haiti native, had been inspired to become a Marine at a young age.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jacques Yves Duroseau grades a competitor's score after the barricade match at Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria, Australia, May 11, 2016. Duroseau competed with the Marine Corps Shooting Team in the Australian Army Skill at Arms Meeting 2016, a multinational event that evaluated military marksmen's skill with firearms against their peers. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Terry Brady) |
“When I was a kid, I saw the marines back home [because]
we had a little war going on, that was the first time I saw
them and I hope to be one of them,” said Duroseau. “Since
that day I had it in the back of my head where I wanted to
be a U.S. Marine.
“My mother was never up for it. She
[would say] ‘no I don't want you to join. Next thing they'll
be sending you to war you're the only son I have I just
don't want to lose you.'”
After finishing
high school in Brooklyn, New York in 2006, he returned home
to go to college, but tragedy would drastically alter the
course of his future. On January 12, 2010, Haiti experienced
a severe earthquake, causing thousands of people to lose
their homes and thousands more lost their lives.
“It's not something I like to talk about,” said Duroseau. “I
was at my house and it happened at about 5:00. I think it
lasted two to three minutes, which is a long time.”
Duroseau was stuck inside of his own house for four days,
pinned between two walls.
“Back home, it's a third
world country so it took them a long time to come and get
me,” said Duroseau. “They could hear me but it took them a
long time to break in and actually pull me out. The stress
of being alive and knowing you might die is a lot.”
After being rescued, Duroseau realized the magnitude of the
devastation on his home.
“It took me a while to find
[my parents] because it was impossible to drive so you had
to walk wherever you were going,” said Duroseau. “There's a
lot of stuff you wished you didn't have to see. There were
many dead and the smell was the worst. It was very sad to
watch and experience.”
Duroseau had to stay in the
country for three months before making his way back to the
U.S.
“As soon as I flew back I spoke to a [Marine
Corps] recruiter,” said Duroseau. “When I left home I had
this in my head that I just wanted to join finally.”
According to Duroseau, past life experiences have molded
the way he acts everyday.
“I have learned to be
humble in life because you live everyday but you don't know
when you might be gone,” said Duroseau. “It comes with
experience and age. The way I was at 21 is not the same I am
now.
“Life is very funny [because] if you don't
learn from it you will fall and you will bust your head.
That's where you learn to become humble and you become
mature and become the man that you were supposed to be.”
Duroseau is currently stationed at Marine Corps Base
Quantico, Virginia, where he serves as a marksmanship
instructor on the firing ranges there. Having humility when
taking care of the Marines he is instructing is important,
according to Duroseau.
“Its good to let them know
that you care about them and let them know they need to pay
attention because being a rifleman is what we are all
about,” said Duroseau. “Every Marine is supposed to be a
rifleman but that isn't always the case, and it falls on us.
“We make sure they come to us to get that training and
we make sure that we give them our best and they understand
the fundamentals of marksmanship.”
Duroseau
perspective on taking care of the Marines' basic need to be
a rifleman was noticed when Capt. Jared Dalton, the team
captain of the Marine Corps Shooting Team, was selecting a
team of military marksmen to participate in Australian Army
Skill at Arms Meeting 2016.
“When Capt. Dalton
approached me he said that I would be a great asset because
he needed people that knew how to shoot and are great at
understanding marksmanship,” said Duroseau. “The fact that I
came here has opened my eyes on a few things that I will
take back to the rear. The Marine Corps should go back and
focus on everything about marksmanship.”
Experiences
in life, be it seeing the world to hardship on the
homestead, are what drive people to become who they want to
be, according to Duroseau.
“Whenever I come home I
try to share a lot of things with my friends and I tell them
if you want it you can make it, even when you thought you
lost everything,” said Duroseau. “Whenever you put your mind
to it and you want it there's nothing stopping you.”
By U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Terry Brady
Marine Corps News
Copyright 2016
The U.S. Marines
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