Honoring our Veterans: Timothy Gerdes

Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGySgt) Timothy Gerdes served in the Marines for 25 years as an Intelligence Chief, where he deployed nine different times during his career.

His main job was to gather information on the enemy to help his higher-ups make important combat decisions.

MGySgt Gerdes joined the military right out of high school, after not wanting to pursue a college education.

When he joined the military there was no conflict going on, but it wasn’t until he was in training when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

After training, he was sent to his first duty station and shipped right out to the war.

Being deployed was something that became normal for MGySgt Gerdes.

He describes the pinnacle of his career when he volunteered to deploy after being asked if he would. Fortunately, he had his wife who supported his decisions all the way.

In 1994, MGySgt Gerdes’ married his wife and a year later had his first son. He said that there are moments of his firstborn’s childhood he has no recognition of because of how much he was away.

Having to often deploy, MGySgt Gerdes formed tight bonds with his brothers and sisters he fought alongside with. This being because they were always deployed under high-stress situations, so it was hard to not create a bond with them.

MGySgt decided to finally leave the military to be able to find another job while he still had life in him. He said he didn’t have a problem adjusting back to civilian life, but his family said he was a bit wired at first.

During his career, he received a combination of Navy and Marine metals, a Merit Service Medal, Combat Action Ribbons for Somalia, and Desert Storm and the Bronze Star.

Today MGySgt is a part of Veterans of Foreign Wars and Run for the Wall. Run for the Wall is a motorcycle organization that brings awareness to missing in action or POW’s as well as healing for all service members past and current. Every year they participate in a motorcycle ride from Los Angeles to Washington DC to raise awareness.

His older son served the military for four years, and currently has another son in the military. Both of them decided to pursue the same career as their father, MGySgt Gerdes.

MGySgt Gerdes enjoyed his 25 years in the military and there’s nothing in that course of time that he regrets.

He encourages anyone who is in the military to stay long enough to be able to qualify for the retirement benefits they provide.