He looked like any other college kid.

In his hooded sweatshirt and jeans, I met Richard Garcia at his gate at the Denver airport. It was November 9th and Richard had flown in to be interviewed on Monday Night Football.

He darted into the nearest men’s room for no more than 10 minutes and came out completely transformed. Not wanting to wrinkle during the flight, he was now wearing his Marine “dress blues.” This anonymous college kid was now stopped by strangers wanting to shake his hand. Business men nodded as they passed him, parents elbowed their kids and the children waved a hello.

Those folks at the airport were right – Richard Garcia is no average college kid. Born and raised in East L.A., Richard and his sister were raised by his truly amazing, deaf, immigrant mother. Richard grew up in many worlds, speaking sign language at home, Spanish in his neighborhood and English at school.

Richard could easily have chosen to become a bitter, angry young man, believing challenges he faced growing up outweighed any notion of believing in the American dream. Instead, Richard believed he owed his country and joined the Marines in January 2003. Richard completed two tours in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 during “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

His active duty is complete yet he is nowhere near done serving others. Richard is currently a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park. The legacy of Pat Tillman is helping to fund Richard’s education so he can complete a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology in order to devote his life to helping other deaf families. Now immersed in campus life, sometimes, he struggles to understand why his peers can’t make it to class on time. Richard is early to every class, everyday, because he’s a Marine.

The stadium of over 75,000 was roaring, yet Richard seemed calm and boy, did he look great in those dress blues. Sitting on a set next to Marie Tillman, fielding questions from ESPN’s Stuart Scott on live television, he nailed it. His family back in East L.A. was watching.
Because Richard is no average college kid, Richard Garcia is a Tillman Military Scholar.