Marine completes mission, joins the Corps

            Learning to remain calm in the humid jungles of a foreign land showed one missionary that he had the will and the strength to serve his fellow man and his country.  

            Private Michael L. Riddle, Delta Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, knew that living in almost unbearable conditions and made the Marine Corps his next goal.

            Riddle grew up in San Pete County, Utah with a large family that consisted of two sisters and eight brothers.

            “I was the youngest out of all of my brothers,” said Riddle. “Even though it was tough, it taught me a lot about humility and where my place in life is. Honestly, looking back, it made being a recruit easier, too.”

            He attended high school at Wasatch Academy where he was a boxer and competed at the regional level. Following graduation in 2012, he made the selfless decision to spend the next couple years of his young adult life volunteering as a missionary with his church instead of starting college.

            “I wanted to volunteer for something,” said 22-year-old Riddle. “I wanted to serve my fellow man and create some good in this world.”

            Riddle attended at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and was sent on a mission to the Island Kingdom of Tonga to assist and live with the native villagers.

            “I was very nervous at first,” said Riddle. “It was a very poor, underdeveloped, third- world country. There was no hygiene available, and it was very easy to catch different diseases.”

            While there, he learned the native language of Tongan and became a fluent speaker. He helped farmers obtain and harvest food, distributed medicine to those who needed it and rebuilt damaged huts.

            “It was a life-changing experience to say the least,” said the young Marine. “You really learn how much you take for granted when you’re somewhere that doesn’t have anything. When you wear plastic sandals as footwear and only can eat once a day if you’re lucky, it reminds you that whatever problems you had back home don’t even compare.”

            Riddle battled off illnesses and countless infections throughout his mission as well as a car accident, which luckily left him with only a few scrapes and bruises.

            “The toughest part was just staying healthy,” said Riddle. “I learned that commitment to accomplish the objective at hand is the only way a man can be successful. So, I battled through whatever came my way and it all worked out.”

            During his time in Tonga, Riddle met a Reserve Marine who was also a missionary. He soon envied him and described him as the epitome of a true warrior.

            After spending two years in the foreign land, the Utah native returned home to attend college for a year. While going through school, Riddle began the enlistment process of becoming a Marine.

            “Even before I met that Marine, I wanted to serve my country,” said Riddle. “My entire family is connected to the military, both sides have served.”

            The enlistment process took Riddle more than a year to complete, and in January of 2016, he made his was to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego to be a part of Delta Company.      “The beginning of boot camp was a lot harder than what I had though,” said Riddle. “It was such a dramatic transformation from civilian to just being a recruit. It was chaotic, loud and scary, but looking back at it, there is nothing I would change.”

            While pushing through training, Riddle used his experiences to motivate and help fellow recruits in his platoon.

            “I always told them about the things that I had been through and how they shouldn’t take for granted the things that the Marine Corps has done for them,” said the Marine. “I told them that when it’s all said and done they will look back and be proud of what they accomplished.”

            Riddle is graduating as a squad leader and plans on staying in the Marine Corps for as long as possible. Following graduation, he will continue his training at the School of Infantry at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., to learn his primary job as an infantryman.  Riddle intends to finish his degree and eventually become a counter terrorist agent.