At the time I really was just focusing on myself and I was really looking at something that I could I could do myself that would help me out and then when I saw that like look I can pass this on to people and I can and I can I can build something with this and I can really help people with this. Welcome to Citizen. We've got a special guest today, Mark Turner, former Marine,

although I think when people hear your accent, they're going to wonder for which country.

Yeah, I get that a lot.

So, give me your background tell me how you ended up in the US and ended up in a

Marine Corps. So my I'm from Scotland, born in Scotland, was raised there. My mother worked for an international telecommunications company back in the late 80s, early 90s, and she got an opportunity to basically come over here for work and it ended up turning into us,

eventually long story short, being able to stay here and become

citizens and we emigrated and all that kind of good stuff I'm from a really poor area in Scotland where there's not much opportunity for people so you know the only

thing I had seen or known about America was what you see in the movies and all that so it was

amazing to come here it was it's been amazing to be able to stay here and

build a life here and all that and I joined the military here. A couple of different reasons,

number one. I had an uncle who was in the British Army and the Black Watch for 30 something years

and always looked up to him and he was like a mentor to me and wanted to kind of follow in his footsteps.

I'd imagine if I would have stayed in Scotland I would have joined the Black Watch just like he did.

And then the second part of me wanting to join the Marine Corps was because it was kind of

I mean that sounds cheesy as all hell but like it was kind of like my way of giving back, you know, like I was a teenager obviously, so I was 17

when I enlisted back in 1999 and you know I was looking at going to military college as well.

I was looking at VMI in the citadel and got accepted to VMI.

And kind of the last minute decided, you know, I don't want to wait four years to actually be in the military. I wanted to be an infantry officer and

it was just kind of my way of giving back. I think you know the country's given so much to me and my family and I don't know how I had that kind of

insight back then as a 17 year old but I just kind of felt that

urge to join the Marine Corps and you know did some time in the infantry, did some time in the reconnaissance community and then you know like many people had a had a negative kind of

transition period you know I was I was involved in some you know heavy fighting and stuff going on back in 2004 2005 in Iraq and that kind of stuff and you know I was young young and

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