Veteran feels overwhelming sense of joy for having served in the Marines

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — John Caviale is a 40-year-old veteran who bounced around a bit after high school before deciding to join the Marine Corps. He says it turned out to be the best decision of his life.

“So, I had a restless spirit, and I decided I was going to do pre-med at the University of Texas right after high school. And after my second semester, I decided that wasn’t for me,” said Caviale. “So, I ended up living a Bohemian lifestyle for a little while. Surfing up and down the coast of California, and then moved to Barcelona, Spain. When I was in Spain, I realized I wanted to have that sense of purpose and fulfillment in my life that I had been lacking so far, and I knew that joining the Marine Corps was exactly what I wanted. What I needed.”

Courtesy: John Caviale

Caviale thought about being a doctor like his father. Instead, he enlisted at the age of 21.

“Then I was sent to Athens, Georgia, to the Navy Supply Corps School to be an Aviation Logistics Information Management Specialist, and that is a mouthful,” he said. “After that, I was stationed at Camp Lejeune Marines Corps Air Station, New River. Then I was deployed to Iraq in 2008 with HMLA 167, which was a light attack helicopter squadron.”

He was sent to Al-Asad, which was a huge air base about 100 miles west of Baghdad.

“So, I did intelligence reports for the pilots as well as maintaining the SIPR NIPR net, which was the secret Internet, and then just the regular Internet,” explained Caviale. 

As a reward for his hard work during his deployment, Caviale’s commanding officer allowed him to take a ride in the front seat of a Cobra helicopter.

Courtesy: John Caviale

“Which was the best 15 minutes in my Marine Corps career. I won’t lie,” he said.

After six months in Iraq, Caviale returned to the States for about three months.

“Then I deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, for a year. All of 2009,” he said.

Caviale says they set up a special Marine air/ground task force.

“We supported Harriers, Hueys, Cobras, C 130s. F 18s. That was unique because we supported all those platforms. And we set up a unit from the ground up,” said Caviale. “We were awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for our work out there, which I’m pretty proud of that.”

While in Afghanistan, he also drove a bus between incoming flights and the base. For a bit.

Courtesy: John Caviale

“One that I picked up, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kevin Farley and Gary Sinise; Lieutenant Dan. So, I drove them to main base, and the Lieutenant Dan Band put on a great show, which was pretty cool,” he said.

Caviale was also part of ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force.

“There was 25-30 nations that were part of that coalition, and we were doing a funeral service for three fallen Marines. I was just an onlooker. There were three detachments of Marines, six per casket, and one of the Marines, his legs are starting to buckle,” said Caviale. ” So, I broke out of formation and relieved him in front of about 800 soldiers from all over the world. Learned how to do that job and ended up getting that job for about three, four months. Funeral duty. It was one of my proud moments.”

Caviale completed his five-year enlistment. Just as he did when he was younger, he traveled across the U.S. before settling down in Wichita.

Courtesy: John Caviale

“And now I’m very proud to work for Veterans Upward Bound, where we help veterans when they’re ready to go back to college. We’re housed at Wichita State,” he said.

He’s also proud to be a Marine.

Courtesy: John Caviale

“I feel an overwhelming sense of pride for having served in the Marine Corps. It’s a special person that wants to join the military. And, of course, I have a particular bias towards Marines. I absolutely love Marines,” said Caviale. “They’re my favorite kinds of people.  But yeah, it’s one of those things that I get to forevermore live with and be proud of.”

Caviale says he’s once again found his sense of purpose with Veterans Upward Bound by helping veterans to refocus and do what their hearts are telling them to do.

If you want to nominate a veteran for our Veteran Salute, email KSN reporter Jason Lamb at [email protected].