CAMP SCHWAB, Okinawa — As California-based Reserve Marines trained in the desert in January to prepare for a six-month ...

Truman, as well as the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima and USS Ponce. His assignment as command master chief was at Airborne Command and Control Squadron 121 in Norfolk, Virginia.

The USS Iwo Jima is the flagship of an Amphibious Ready Group, a quick-response team for contingency missions. Marte's mother, initially shocked by his enlistment, became his biggest supporter.