Outcome Reports
		One Man's Story

One man's story:

I was born in upstate New York, the third of five boys and one girl in Endicott, home of I.B.M. I never knew my father, but he was a Navy pilot. My mother and he separated when I was eight. I was always in trouble as a teenager; I was suspended from school for ditching classes. I drank and smoked dope and stayed one step ahead of the law by enlisting in the Marines a month before my eighteenth birthday. I went to boot camp at Camp Lejune, served in Japan for two years, and when I finished my tour in CA, I decided to stay there.

I held a series of jobs, continued my partying, and my life seemed to have little direction. I was arrested and jailed on a drug charge. At the time I became involved with a lady who became pregnant with my child. My daughter subsequently became a ward of the court and was placed in foster care. When I got out I went into a drug rehabilitation program and then entered Westside Residence Hall in Inglewood, CA, part of US VETS Initiative.

My daughter's birth focused me on my future. I met some wonderful people in the employment program at US VETS and I took advantage of the Marriott training program that they offered me. I graduated with the first class in June of 1999.

US VETS gave me the moral support to continue my sobriety and to keep my career on track. My daughter's mother and I have battled adversity and the courts. She now has physical custody of my daughter, and they are both doing well. I am able to see my daughter on weekends and have her overnight.

I was able to take a leave of absence earlier this year and reunite with my mother and my siblings. My mother had become very ill and I was grateful to have the time to get her settled and taken care of.

My future is looking better and better. I take it one day at a time. I am proud to be a Marine and I am very proud to be a father.

Patrick Shannon

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