He Was Selling Drugs at 11 Before Getting Into Gunfights In Iraq at 18!
5/11/20262 hr 49 min
War changes people.
In this episode of Urban Valor, Marine veteran Shawn Reed shares his story growing up in violent neighborhoods in St. Louis, joining the United States Marine Corps, fighting in Iraq during the height of the war, surviving brutal combat, and dealing with the aftermath that followed so many Marines home.
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Chapters:
00:00 – “It Was Like Star Wars”
00:43 – Marines Started Dying By Suicide After Deployment
01:00 – Meet Shawn Reed
01:44 – Growing Up in North St. Louis
05:38 – Selling Drugs at 11 Years Old
08:53 – Watching a Drive-By Shooting Up Close
10:35 – Why He Decided to Join the Military
12:52 – The Marine Recruiter Who Changed His Life
15:18 – Becoming a Marine Infantryman
16:15 – Marine Corps Boot Camp Was Hell
21:14 – Wild Stories From SOI & Infantry Training
29:35 – Arriving at 3/1 Marines
33:59 – Hazing, Fear & Preparing for Iraq
40:40 – Landing in Kuwait Before Iraq
42:01 – First Patrols in Iraq
44:28 – His First Gunfight in Iraq
47:09 – The Night He Was Left Alone in Iraq
51:13 – Trying to Survive Alone at 18 Years Old
53:34 – Reuniting With His Team Leader
1:57:34 – Why PTSD Thrived After Iraq
1:58:46 – “War Was Simpler Than Going Home”
1:59:42 – Deploying Again With the 13th MEU
2:00:56 – EFPs Started Tearing Through Vehicles
2:01:31 – An Entire EOD Team Was Killed
2:02:30 – Walking Through a Minefield to Rescue Marines
2:07:34 – His Corpsman Saved His Life
2:08:43 – Waking Up After Being Shot
2:09:48 – Doctors Said His Marine Corps Career Was Over
2:36:12 – Witnessing Mass Casualties Again
2:37:20 – The Phone Call His Mother Received After He Was Shot
2:38:41 – How the Military Changed PTSD Recovery for Marine
#military #warstories #urbanvalor #marines #warstories
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJosh· Host0:00
Hey everyone, this is Josh, host of the Urban Valor Podcast. This week's episode features retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant Sean Reid. Sean grew up in North St. Louis surrounded by violence, gangs, drugs, and shootings. By 11 years old, he was already selling drugs. As he got older, that lifestyle only escalated. Fast money, dangerous environments, and a path that easily could have ended in prison or death. Instead, he joined the United States Marine Corps. What started as a way out became a 23-year career in the infantry, including multiple combat deployments during the height of the Iraq War. At just 18 years old, Sean found himself in Iraq during some of the most chaotic years of the war, riding in open Humvees, operating with minimal protection, and getting into gunfights before he was even old enough to legally drink. But one moment stuck with him more than the rest, a night near Abu Ghraib where he suddenly realized he had been left alone in Iraq. No support, no convoy around him, just darkness, weapons, and the understanding that capture wasn't an option. This is a raw conversation about survival, brotherhood, war, and how the Marine Corps transformed a kid who was headed down a very different path. If you enjoy this episode, go give us a five-star rating and leave a comment to help support our veterans. The bigger the community, the bigger the impact. If you'd like to contribute your story to Urban Valor or know anyone else who may, you can email me at josh@urbanvalor.com. Enjoy the show.
Sean Reid· Guest1:23
Name's Sean Reid. Um, I enlisted August 18th, 2003, and, um, retiring