Concord teen leaves Mexico, joins Marines to honor US and sister who died of cerebral palsy

CONCORD, Calif. (KTVU) - When we went to Concord to watch a group of Marine recruits work out, it was pretty clear, pretty quickly that the workout wasn't going to be easy.  But becoming Marine isn't either. 

We asked poolee Priscilla Martinez Rodriguez, if she felt like she had something to prove and she didn't hesitate saying " Yeah I never want to give up. I never want to do something halfway."

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When we went to Concord to watch a group of Marine recruits work out, it was pretty clear, pretty quickly that the workout wasn't going to be easy. But becoming marine isn't either. We asked poolee Priscilla Martinez Rodriguez, if she felt like she had something to prove and she didn't hesitate saying " Yeah I never want to give up. I never want to do something halfway." In this group she's simply called Martinez. We could hear her name being yelled across the room as both encouragement and motivation. She is a senior at Mt. Diablo high school and she signed up for the Marines last August. She is in training now, "I am just waiting to graduate and ship off to boot camp that's it." Gunnery Sgt. Angel Rodriguez is the Station Commander for the RSS Contra Costa. He gets about a hundred poolees like Martinez every year explaining, "poolees are our Marines awaiting training that's basically the way to say it they are young men and women who enlisted our delayed entry program and that's a program that we have to get them mentally and physically prepared for them to go into boot camp training." The Marines say poolees need know why they are here. They need to know why they want to be Marines. Staff Sgt. Victor Jaquez recruited Martinez and says, "if you don't have a powerful why you want to do anything. why you want to be a doctor in this case why you want to be a Marine, when things get rough what is going to keep you going." All poolees train at the recruiting office a couple of times a week, but this group also does extra training here at Crossfit Overwatch in Concord. The gym has had a long relationship with the Marines and has hosted poolee competitions and training. Owner Jimmy Greninger says "for me it’s my opportunity to give back and to help any person getting ready to give back," Recently he says he also wanted to know why these young people want to serve. So he offered them a scholarship that would allow them to work out for free. To be considered they had to write a letter about why they joined. And one in letter in particular stood out. "It was raw I mean just wow you know," says Greninger. It was written by poolee Martinez who wrote that "serving the country has never been about medals or ranks, it has never been about the positions I may achieve but about giving back to those who have given everything to me." Martinez was born in Mexico and lived there with her mother and her sister who had cerebral palsy, while her father was working in the U.S. She was just 5 years old when they all got the chance to come to the United States. Martinez writes, "after years of seeing my sister suffer and my family being neglected by our Mexican government, we got news that the us government had decided to grant us access to the country and my sister, Maria, would receive medical attention immediately after landing. From the moment we landed our future would change completely." Maria would get the care she needed for years to come and Martinez says she "fought and clung to life with a strong spirit, however only a month before her 21st birthday she passed away. I swore to fight for her and move forward in her memory." For Martinez that meant joining the military. "I have thought of serving for a long time and I reached out to Air Force and to Navy recruiters and was turned down due to my status as a green card holder." In her letter she said the call to join the Marines came suddenly but when it came. she answered, "now the only question no my mind was "can I do it?" Her recruiter isn't worried. Sgt. Jaquez said "She'll a hundred percent make it through this." Her supporters credit the passion and drive that you can see so clearly in her words. "I want to, and I will fight for those I love," says Martinez. Greninger just couldn't stop thinking about her letter. "I was blown away," he says "and the time she took to put it together it really gained a scholarship for the whole group." So now she and her Marine poolee family work out at Crossfit Overwatch for free. The Marines says it’s important for them to have support from both the military and the community. "They need to feel pride in what they are doing and that they know that their community is 100 percent behind them," says Sgt. Rodriguez. And when it gets hard because it does, Poolee Martinez thinks about her sister Maria. "I don't feel as though giving up is something she would do or want me to do, so everything is to fight in her memory and to make her proud." It's her why, why she says she's determined to be among the few, the proud, the Marines. Poolee Martinez joined as green card holder. On February 13th she became a U.S. citizen.

In this group she's simply called Martinez.  We could hear her name being yelled across the room as both encouragement and motivation. She is a senior at Mt. Diablo high school and she signed up for the Marines last August.   She is in training now, "I am just waiting to graduate and ship off to boot camp that's it."

Gunnery Sgt. Angel Rodriguez is the Station Commander for the RSS Contra Costa.   He gets about a hundred poolees like Martinez every year explaining, "poolees are our Marines awaiting training that's basically the way to say it they are young men and women who enlisted our delayed entry program and that's a program that we have to get them mentally and physically prepared for them to go into boot camp training."

The Marines say poolees need know why they are here.  They need to know why they want to be Marines.

Staff Sgt. Victor Jaquez recruited Martinez and says, "if you don't have a powerful why you want to do anything. why you want to be a doctor in this case why you want to be a Marine, when things get rough what is going to keep you going."

All poolees train at the recruiting office a couple of times a week, but this group also does extra training at Crossfit Overwatch in Concord. The gym has had a long relationship with the Marines and has hosted poolee competitions and training.  Owner Jimmy Greninger says "for me it’s my opportunity to give back and to help any person getting ready to give back," Recently he says he also wanted to know why these young people want to serve.  So he offered them a scholarship that would allow them to work out for free.  To be considered they had to write a letter about why they joined. And one in letter in particular stood out.

"It was raw I mean just wow you know," says Greninger.

It was written by poolee Martinez who wrote that "serving the country has never been about medals or ranks, it has never been about the positions I may achieve but about giving back to those who have given everything to me."  Martinez was born in Mexico and lived there with her mother and her sister who had cerebral palsy, while her father was working in the U.S. She was just 5 years old when they all got the chance to come to the United States.

Martinez writes, "after years of seeing my sister suffer and my family being neglected by our Mexican government, we got news that the us government had decided to grant us access to the country and my sister, Maria, would receive medical attention immediately after landing. From the moment we landed our future would change completely."

Maria would get the care she needed for years to come and Martinez says she "fought and clung to life with a strong spirit, however only a month before her 21st birthday she passed away.  I swore to fight for her and move forward in her memory."

For Martinez that meant joining the military.  "I have thought of serving for a long time and I reached out to Air Force and to Navy recruiters and was turned down due to my status as a green card holder."  In her letter she said the call to join the Marines came suddenly but when it came. she answered, "now the only question no my mind was "can I do it?"

Her recruiter isn't worried.  Sgt. Jaquez said "She'll a hundred percent make it through this."

Her supporters credit the passion and drive that you can see so clearly in her words. "I want to, and I will fight for those I love," says Martinez.

Greninger just couldn't stop thinking about her letter. "I was blown away," he says "and the time she took to put it together it really gained a scholarship for the whole group."

So now she and her Marine poolee family work out at Crossfit Overwatch for free.

The Marines says it’s important for them to have support from both the military and the community. 
"They need to feel pride in what they are doing and that they know that their community is 100 percent behind them," says Sgt. Rodriguez.

And when it gets hard because it does, Poolee Martinez thinks about her sister Maria. "I don't feel as though giving up is something she would do or want me to do, so everything is to fight in her memory and to make her proud."

It's her why, why she says she's determined to be among the few, the proud, the Marines.

Poolee Martinez joined as green card holder.  On February 13th she became a U.S. citizen.