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SASEBO, Japan — Hospitalman Ezekiel Garcia, a native of Port Arthur, serves the U.S. Navy in Japan.

Garcia attended Memorial High School and graduated in 2015. He joined the Navy four years ago because he wanted to change his life and “do something meaningful.”

Today, Garcia serves as a hospital corpsman with the Naval Medical Readiness Training Unit.

“One of the lessons I learned is to appreciate the little things in life,” said Garcia.

According to Navy officials, the Naval Medical Readiness Training Unit empowers forward-deployed U.S. and Allied Forces while providing superior support to military members and their families.

Garcia serves in Japan as part of the Forward Deployed Naval Forces. These naval forces operate with allies and partners to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Service members in this region are part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which has the largest area of responsibility in the world.

“The Navy is important to our national defense because we have a foothold in many places around the world,” said Garcia.

As Garcia and other sailors continue to train and perform missions, they take pride in serving their country in the United States Navy.

“Serving in the Navy means answering the call to join and contribute to our country,” said Garcia.

Garcia is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.

“I would like to thank my family and friends for pushing me to do better,” added Garcia.

— Written by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Xiaoming Zheng of the Navy Office of Community Outreach