Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego -- With the creation of a Marine comes the forging of the skills and traits that have been carried throughout the life of the Corps. Some of those traits include being able to make do with what they have and the ability to adapt and overcome. Pfc. Michael R. Gama, Platoon 1074, Delta Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, displayed these traits well before joining the Corps while growing up.
Gama was born and raised in Redding, Calif. As he recalled, his first couple of years as a child was spent in a bad family situation. Because of this, he was removed from the family when he was three-and-a-half-years-old and was adopted by another.
“I was put into a really good family,” said Gama, who was recruited out of Recruiting Substation Redding, Calif. “My dad was a United States probation officer and my mom worked for her dad at his construction company. I also lived with my two stepsisters.”
Gama enjoyed a good life with a good family. While in the 3rd grade he took a test that labeled him a genius. His parents were given the option to let him skip a grade, but decided they wanted him to stay with the kids his age and keep his regular schedule.
Gama’s life suddenly changed in the 7th grade, when he was temporarily removed from the family and placed back into foster care. Gama recalled the living conditions were a far cry from standards he had grown up in.
“The foster housing I lived in wasn’t very adequate,” said 18-year-old Gama. “It was a small room with just a bed, blanket and pillow. I didn’t have a lot of space for clothes, so I only had a couple pairs that I was sent, and I was always wearing the same set over and over. I was made fun of a lot at school because of it and eventually just looked filthy.”
While with the foster family, Gama wasn’t allowed to talk or receive any visits from his parents until it was determined it was safe for his return. When he did return, things weren’t the same.
“I didn’t feel normal anymore,” said Gama. “Everything was ripped from me and my life was completely upside down.”
Gama had excelled so much in soccer, that he was sponsored by Nike in 7th grade. However, due to the family situation and his move, he was dropped and had to leave the team.
“The drama had caused a lot of tension between the family and started to make me feel like I didn’t belong there anymore,” said Gama. “My father had to get a truck driving job and was gone all the time, and my mother had to pick up an extra job, so no one was ever home. When I turned 16 I got a job as well, so when I came home at night my mom was already asleep because she would have to get up early before I was awake for school.”
Seven months before Gama was scheduled to graduate high school, he decided to move out unexpectedly.
“I didn’t give anyone a warning,” said Gama. “My parents didn’t even know I was gone half the time, so I figured I’m just going to continue living by myself doing what I needed to do.”
He occasionally stayed with friends but mainly lived out of his car. He explained the reason he moved out was because the tension became high with his parents and he didn’t have anyone to talk to except his recruiter or friends he had made from the recruiting station.
The path to the Marine Corps started years before when Gama was sent back to foster care.
“That time really changed my personality,” said Gama. It wasn’t about myself anymore. I started thinking about all the other people who were in my situation and had the desire to help others and not be so self-centered.”
Gama explained he had a friend whose father was in the Marine Corps, and passed away while in the service. His friend wanted to carry on his father’s legacy and explained the Marine Corps to Gama.
“In talking to my friend, I learned more about the Marines and the strong brotherhood and great legacy they had,” said Gama. “The impact they leave on people was so overwhelming that I decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
Standing on the yellow footprints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Gama started to doubt his desire to be there, but things changed after making a simple realization.
“I started to realize that drill instructors were telling us to do the same thing over and over again to get that attention to detail,” said Gama. “When they scream and yell at you, at first I thought it was miserable, but realized that when you’re in combat, you’re going to have people screaming and yelling at you so you shouldn’t take offense to any of it.”
Drill instructors noticed that Gama had seemed to figure out how to handle the chaos and took to their direction very easily.
“From day one he stood out as being one of those kids who was most motivated and really wanted to be there,” said Sgt. Aaron S. Torres, senior drill instructor, Plt. 1074. “We would instruct him one time, and he would automatically get it and know what he needed to do.”
Forging a new brotherhood now as a United States Marine, Gama moves on to the School of Infantry at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., to complete his military occupational specialty training as an infantryman.