In every American soldier, there is a story to be told. One such story belongs to Estefan Moreno, a twenty-four year old, Hoover High School graduate who is now a police officer for State Center Community College District.
Moreno enlisted in the Marines Reserve the summer proceeding his senior year in high school. That was a year before the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Following graduation, he started his mission to serve in the United States Armed Forces in January 2002 with boot camp.
This involved thirteen weeks of specialized training where Moreno learned physical and mental discipline, pride in his appearance and how to live as a marine. Among the knowledge he received, he said he enjoyed himself. “I liked it; I had fun. I laughed a lot; I got in trouble for laughing a lot,” he said.
Moreno was deployed in Iraq in September 2007; there, he transported troops and weapons on a seven-ton Humvee, knowing that with each trip, his convoy could be attacked and he could be injured like many before him. He said, “When you are doing the convoys to
different satellite bases, you don’t know what is on the road; one of
the hard thing we were taught to look for are Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), but when you get out there, those things you are looking for are everywhere.”
“You are told to look in piles of trash, but there is trash everywhere; it is not like they have garbage people picking trash everyday. But you kind of go off your training and you think about everything you were taught and the people you are with, and just take it one day at a time. Over there, you can’t rush it”
Moreno came back from his tour in Iraq in April 2008 and quickly
came back to work for the SCCCD Campus Police. He said he had to adjust from serving in Iraq for seven months to working at Fresno City College
Campus. “As a police officer, your job is to help people, and over
there in Iraq, your job is the same, but there is a difference. Over
there, you live with the thought that everybody is a suspect first,
versus over here. You don’t think everyone is a suspect when you work on a college campus.” Moreno even had to quickly adjust how he was drove. “Over there, I would drive the trucks; when there was a
stop sign, you slowed down and keep going; you drive, however. So over
here, I have to do a complete stop at a stop sign.”
While in Iraq, Moreno met many civilians. He fought with himself whether he should trust them or not. “You want to trust them but at the same time, it is not safe because they can smile one minute, and they can be planning on something else the next; you don’t know.”
He said he is not bothered when the media criticize the war in Iraq. “It doesn’t affect me because they are not talking about me or what I’m doing; I know I’m doing what I gotta do. They have their opinion and I have mine. I knew what I was getting myself into, knew we were going to the war, the time situation. The people that I know are supportive,” he said.
Moreno has one word for his time in Iraq, “Unforgettable.”
Going to Iraq exposed him to a lot of people from all over the United States, Texas, Pennsylvania, and all over California. “I had great times, a lot of good memories, a lot of interesting times, a lot of interesting experiences,” he said.
There were unexpected moments in Iraq. “It snowed over there, the first time it snowed in 60 years, and I experienced that with the people.” Moreno realized over there in Iraq, “You live, work, eat, and sleep around the same people. You become close to them as family and experience some unique stuff with them,” he said.
Moreno has many goals he wants to accomplish as a district police
officer. “I want to get further along with my career and experience a lot more.” Moreno is still in the reserves; he recently finished his contract in August 2008, at the end of his eighth year, he will reenlist to the marines.
Estefan Moreno wants to experience life; this is what he always tried to do. “One of the things I realized a while ago was life is too
short. I’d rather laugh and have a good time.”
