Page 56 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2025 - Online Magazine

navy seabee | iraqi FreedOm, endUrinG FreedOm,
aFGHanistan, aFriCa, paCiFiC tHeatre

Gulfport, and he headed out were all part of a network of Seabees
for seven months. He led a and Sailors who supported each other
team as the Assistant Officer through the toughest of times.
in Charge and Operations
Chief. He was responsible for For anyone in uniform for an extended
25 people, taking them into time, success is calculated by the
the mountains and bringing support of the people close to them.
them back out. He had to be Each time he left a war zone, he left a
more focused. That leadership piece of himself behind. “It started to
assignment prepared him for become scary to discover what piece
future responsibility. that was.” His wife is an exceptional
woman who has been with him through
less strenuous assignments. After After Afghanistan, he became it all.
each deployment, he would go back an Operations Chief for Seabees The former Seabee says veterans all
to Gulfport for another training cycle embedded in Special Operations need to remember that we’re here for
and a chance to see his family and Command Africa—a stressful, complex, each other. He is a huge advocate of the
decompress. Everyone would bring but fulfilling assignment. Before his VA and feels that not enough veterans
back something to contribute to the next training cycle, he was offered the take advantage of that resource.
team. Combat operations became part job of Quality Control Specialist for “Sometimes you don’t completely come
of his world; Seabees had to be able to the Battalion and eventually, Quality back from where you have been, and the
both build and fight. The Seabee legacy Control Manager for deployed Seabee VA has the resources to assist in making
helped shape his character. missions throughout the Pacific Theater. the transition less overwhelming.”

His first deployment was in Guam There is “Silence in Service.” It took After 24 years, Duran left the service
where they provided facility support in a long time before he learned how to and returned to West Texas. He and his
preparation for the events leading up to avoid “the pipeline” (a negativity bias). wife have four children. Their oldest is
Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring He didn’t see it happening to him, and a nurse at UMC, their second is figuring
Freedom. These were different kinds his wife was instrumental in helping out his own life direction, the other two
of wars than those he remembered in him avoid that destructive path. “In are still in school. The Garcias are also
movies. every war zone experience, you lose
part of your innocence. All of it shapes enjoying their first grandchild. He still
Back in Gulfport after Iraq, the training and molds you.” Duran made some wanted to serve and looked for a career
was more modernized and specific to great friends, lost some others, and with purpose. He found it as the Project
the combat style in the desert. IEDs connected with a few in ways many Manager overseeing construction
(improvised explosive devices) made people cannot comprehend. He began projects for Carillon Senior Living. We Reliable Home Care
that type of warfare more chaotic. mentoring younger service people are blessed to have him aboard. SERVING Made easy
He learned to be alert for random and applying his knowledge in senior
attacks and how to be calm in stressful leadership roles.
situations.
Duran was Experienced, Compassionate
Next, Duran was assigned to shore deployed eight THOSE Caregivers
duty in Okinawa with a non-deployable times, decorated
unit, doing “normal” things. Even his with 22 service
family was able to come. He and his ribbons and Flexible Approach to
wife dressed up and went to military medals, and WHO
balls and dressed down and played on qualified in Respite Care
the beach. Okinawa (its beaches and its two warfare
people) was the best place to recover platforms. He is
from the intensity of war. quick to admit SERVED Helpful Resources for
the accolades are
After four years, Duran asked to go not something Veterans
with the first battalion into Afghanistan. he accomplished
His wife and children went back to on his own. They

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