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# The grizzled veteran
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-grizzled-veteran/
- Published: 2007-05-12T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:44:55.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Joining the military was a lifelong goal for Lance Corporal James Escobar, who works in the financial aid office at Santa Monica College, which he briefly attended.

Two months after Escobar graduated from a Los Angeles high school, he enlisted in the Marines, shortly before terrorists steered a pair jetliners into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I thought, ‘damn, I’m a fool,’” Escobar said. “My mom told me the same thing.

“No one thought there was going to be a war and I don’t regret \[enlisting\].”

Escobar was only 19 when,on Feb.23,2003, he was deployed to his tour of duty in Iraq.

> “Every day, I felt like this could be my last day,” — Escobar said

The first thing that crossed his mind was “I didn’t want to die.”

His first impressions of Iraq? It was the hottest place he had ever been. It was a foreign country where nobody spoke English and it lacked the modern day conveniences available in the United States.

Imagine being the most homesick you’ve ever been and multiply it by 10, he said.

Being in combat was a surreal experience. There was only one incident when Escobar said he was in the line of fire.

“Afterwards, it was like ‘wow, that really did happen and I could’ve been gone,’” he said.

More than three months later, Escobar came home,and on July 17 — more than four years after he first left the country — Escobar will finally complete his time in the service.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 12, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)