Middle East vet moves into retirement

By TAYLOR BROWN

tbrown@yourmvi.com

After a dozen years in the Army National Guard, Raymond Dicks is ready to focus on the next chapter in his life.

Dicks, 32, of Charleroi enlisted after he graduated from high school in 2007.

“It was a decision I made for my career,” he said. “Coming out of high school, there were not a lot of options for me, so I thought the military was the best choice.”

Dicks served in Tikrit, Iraq, from 2009-10 and Afghanistan from 2011-12.

“I got to see and do a lot of things that other people will never do,” Dicks said, such as seeing Saddam Hussein’s palace in Baghdad and jumping out of an airplane. “I flew all over the world, saw things I never thought I would see and got to do things I never thought I would do.”

While he didn’t come from a military family, he was inspired to serve his country after his high school friend, Ross McGuinnis, was killed overseas. He died Dec. 4, 2006, when he threw himself onto a live grenade, saving four soldiers.

McGuinnis was posthumously awarded the United States’ highest award for bravery, the Medal of Honor.

“His bravery pushed me to take a step forward and decide to follow in his footsteps to serve,” Dicks said. “There is only one way to learn and understand what the Constitution of this country means, and that is to protect it with everything you have.

“Russ has never left my mind or my heart. I think about him all of the time and I hope with every milestone I achieve he is looking down on me.”

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