For most people, becoming a Marine begins after high school. That is when the grueling training begins to mold young recruits into an elite class of highly trained, courageous and committed young men. They are given the duty to protect our country and its citizens. The journey for Joe Wallace started much earlier.

Joe was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1954. From the beginning, his life was not easy. He had to learn and apply many of the skills and principles required of a fully trained Marine. Joe was born into a large family of eight children; two would later pass. At age 6, his parents divorced. His mother left the family, and it became too much for his father to handle. Some of the children were sent to different relatives and different social service organizations. Joe went into an orphanage while his father worked. His father would pick up all the children every other weekend to spend time with them. His father rented a room nearby so he could be closer to the kids. At six years old, Joe didn’t know what to call it until many years later, but he attributes his father for his first lessons on learning about commitment.

Joe talks a lot about how his father shaped him. Joe’s father was a Marine, and he raised the family through all the difficult times by drawing from his Marine background and his upbringing on a farm. Joe learned a lot from the lessons his father bestowed. Despite the difficult times the family was going through, his father was there, doing everything he could to get through their situation. Joe doesn’t have negative feelings about his time in the children’s home but he remembers it as a time for learning and growing. His values were defined first by his father and going through those early years. His dad served during the Korean War but also worked as a roofer, carpenter, and sheet metal fabricator. He worked hard and eventually started his own business. Joe says, “I saw my father get up every day and go to work.” Joe admired his commitment to the family and the job. Joe and one of his brothers learned a lot from working in his father’s line of work, beginning at the age of twelve. Joe was given a lot of responsibility from a young age.

In 1961, a year into his foster care time, he was reunited with his siblings. Times remained tough until about 1966 when things got better. His dad remarried and Joe would be raised by his stepmother Beatriz. Joe would remain in New Orleans until he joined the Marines at age 17. He spent 4 years on active duty. Upon returning after his time in the Marines, Joe continued to search for his path in life. He moved between jobs and in and out of attending college until he turned 29 and stayed in college until he got his undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice.

In 1980, Joe took a job with the postal service as a letter carrier. He stayed on this job for fourteen years until he suffered a back injury, forcing him to retire. What some might think was a bad turn of events, Joe reinvented himself as a teacher. He went back and got his teacher certification for kindergarten through the nineth grade and began teaching. Eventually, he would teach through the high school grades. This profession provided him a great opportunity to share his wealth of knowledge and experience to the next generation. But there were still more challenges to come.

The name of one of those challenges was Katrina. In 2005 a catastrophic hurricane hit and tore apart New Orleans and the region. The first part of the catastrophe was the storm and its damage; the second part was the education system. With the territory in chaos and a mass exodus of the population, teachers were terminated in massive numbers. For Joe, this meant after ten years of doing a job he loved, he would be forced to reinvent himself yet again.

He and his wife Linda, decided to move to Highland Park Illinois. This is where Linda grew up. He says it took him about two years to assimilate into the community. There were changes that took place in him that has helped him grow in many ways. He was raised Baptist but turned to Judaism after attending his wife’s temple. Joe says that the Jewish War Veterans were some of the first people to make him feel welcomed. It is from these relationships and their stories that he became inspired about many things in life. He became active in the community participating in the Marine Corp league and supporting the Boy Scouts.

He became the Post Commander for the Jewish War Veterans working on helping the Jewish community together and help support and uplift the Jewish community in the military. Joe has recently retired from teaching but remains substitute teaching when called upon. His years have given him wisdom and some clarity, but he proclaims that he is still a work in progress.

In terms of defining his values and faith, Joe says that God is his focal point. He never felt that while growing up but now it guides him and how he sees the world. He says it took him a lifetime to figure this out. Freedom is having pride in your country which he says has been ingrained in him from his family that has served in every war since the Revolutionary War. He is committed to doing everything he can to avoid our country to fall into tyranny.

When it comes to values and its affects on him and others, he takes every individual seriously. What is most important to Joe is a person’s contribution to our country. What has become a barrier to our nation’s progress is our ability to work for the good of the nation. “I wish we could go back to where our two sides can disagree and not hate each other; a world where we could all be civil to one another.”

When I asked Joe about where he thought the nation was going, he replied- “We’re losing our moral compass, and our current pathway is leading us down a path of divisiveness created and encouraged by our political leadership from both parties. They don’t care to lead, only to win power.” For things to get better, Joe believes there are a few things that need to happen. Our nation needs to address racism, bigotry, hatred and anger. We need to do something about poverty and build cooperation between individuals, political parties and the world, for the sake of mankind.

I asked Joe what is the vision of the world he would like to live in and he replied: “A world based on merit, where there’s equal opportunity, and where everyone takes personal responsibility.”  Next, I asked Joe about personal life examples of inspiration and guidance. Joe talked about having several core friends who have inspired him and have provided love and support over the years. He talked about his step-mother Beatriz, who, “married my father with six kids and she loved us as if we were her own.” Of her he said, “Every success I have had, I owe part of it to her.” He then mentioned role model and best friend for many years, Donald Milsop. We met when we were teenagers in the Marine Corps. He’s been my brother for over forty-nine years, and we share everything and support each other no matter what, including the same passion for our country. Then he talked about his younger brother, John Wallace. “He’s always been an inspiration. I have admired and respected him for all the tough times we’ve shared, all the ups and downs.” Then he talked about another brother, Michael, who is 15 years younger and grew up to be an outstanding young man, “with a killer sense of humor!”

Joe Wallace did not have an easy road from the very beginning nor did he have an easy path to follow all along the way, but he kept going and found his way. In my conversation, I heard no excuses, no blaming things on certain people, institutions or labels. He was consistent about the way to fix things is for all of us, despite what label we carry, to work together to make this a better world for everyone. In my opinion Joe found his right path which was to share his knowledge and wisdom with the next generation through his teaching. He aims to give a message of encouragement to his students to do better and to make things better for everyone; teach them how to become people of value.

Finally, I asked Joe if he could do something about anything, what would that be? He explained that he is always trying to fix things, but it starts with oneself and his role in the environment, neighborhood, and community. Take it just one step at a time. I believe this to be strong words of wisdom that we should all listen to and act upon.