MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- As a child, Lam C. Thichuong woke daily to the smell of gunpowder and the sound of explosions. His home of Sudan, Africa, was embroiled in civil war.
"Life was very difficult in Sudan," said Thichuong. "There is not a lot of work. Everything was being destroyed by civil war. You see skirmishes and fighting every day all around you."
During one skirmish, 10-year-old Thichuong lost his 16-year-old brother.
Thichuong and his family lived in a small house made with grass and mud in the tribal lands of Sudan.
Shortly after his brother's death, he left Sudan for a refugee camp in Ethiopia.
During his time at the camp, Thichuong received an education and learned to speak English.
But these accomplishments were not easily achieved.
"Things weren't available for us all the time," said Thichuong. "Schooling was limited.
"Survival was very hard. You had to live for today, not tomorrow. In the refugee camp you have to depend on someone else. The chance for survival is there though."
Through determination and strength of will, Thichuong survived 10 years at the refugee camp before receiving asylum in the United States.
At the age of 21, he took his first step on American soil and a new way of life.
"I was given asylum working in Minneapolis as a line lead in a manufacturing company making CD-ROMs and cassettes," said Thichuong. "After a year, I started working as a program counselor at a group home."
In 1998, Thichuong moved to Omaha, Neb., and got a job working with public schools. He also married his wife, Nyaduer.
"The two of us met in the United States about five years ago," said the 28-year-old's wife.
"Our families knew each other from the refugee camp and that is how we got together," she said
Thichuong and his wife met in Ethiopia at the refugee camp. They now have one daughter, Nyazole, and another on the way. His second child is due sometime during October.
"It is going to be a new experience for him and us (his family)," said Nyaduer Thichuong. "It is hard to express how proud I am of him."
Thichuong received his citizenship around the time of last year's terrorist attacks.
Due to the tragedies that befell the people of New York and throughout the country, Thichuong decided it was time to stand up and take arms to defend his country.
Thichuong arrived with his fellow recruits of Company B to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, May 23.
"I love the leadership that comes from being in the Marine Corps," said Thichuong.
"Having the courage and heart to do something that most wouldn't even think about," he added.
"The greatest feeling is knowing that you earned it all on your own."