MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- After 21 years of service, Master Sergeants Richard and Sabrina Bryan both ended their Marine Corps careers during a retirement ceremony at the Parade Deck here Monday.
The Bryans spent nearly 10 of those 21 years of military service together, hand in hand, as husband and wife.
Throughout deployments, military exercises and the normal stresses of the military life, the Bryans have managed to keep their family together and are now ready to move on to the next chapter.
“It’s a lot of work, but in the end its all worth it,” said Richard. “I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.”
Although each joined the Marine Corps with a different plan, one believing it would be a 30-year journey and the other thinking it would be a shorter enlistment, in the end, once they met, their plans became the same.
“It’s been great, it’s been awesome, but I’m ready to settle down and give my kids a place they can call home,” said Sabrina. “We’ve got teenagers and they want to go to high school and then to college with people they know. They don’t need to keep moving and moving.”
“I’ve always loved the Marine Corps, I still do, but this is the best time (to retire) not just for me but for my family,” said Richard. “We have kids now, teenagers that want to go to school and get to graduate with their friends and move on to college with their friends. This wasn’t a decision we just decided. We’ve been planning this at least three years out.”
Both Marines enlisted in 1989 and had their own separate careers and experiences until they both arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan in 1998.
Richard, then Staff Sgt. Bryan, was working as the assistant mess hall manager when Sabrina, then Sgt. Owens, arrived on station.
“One day I was working in the mess hall and I just heard this loud voice that came in laughing all cheerful like,” said Richard. “I was like, ‘Who’s that?’”
Richard made his way to where Sabrina was after she sat down at a table.
“I was eating breakfast and he sat at my table and didn’t say anything and I’m like ‘Who is this person?’,” said Sabrina. “So eventually after about five or ten minutes he said, ‘You are the one.’ and I’m like ‘What? What is wrong with you?’ I‘ve never seen him before and he‘s like ‘Your going to be my wife’.”
Although Sabrina refused to talk to him after their first encounter, following a few months, they eventually started dating.
“He wouldn’t quit,” said Sabrina. “He just wouldn’t quit.”
Richard said he took his example from the saying winners never quit and quitters never win.
“When I first seen her, she just blew my mind like wow,” said Richard. “The laugh, she’s very outgoing and friendly, and I’ll always remember ‘HEEYY! Good morning how you doing!” everyone and anyone. It will always stick with me. Like I said the first time I met her. I told her she was going to be the one and she’s still the one.”
After two years they married and the Bryans were faced with the stresses of not only being married, but with the stresses of being deployed away from their family at different times throughout their military careers.
Although a tough road at times, they’ve been able to work through it. Sabrina said everyone from her husband to her youngest son to her mother pulled together as a family and worked together through the various deployments and military exercises their family was faced with.
“Just as hard as you work at your job, you have to work in your home with your marriage and your family,” said Sabrina. “If you‘re not ready to do that, and most people are not ready to do that before twenty-five, don’t do it.”
During their marriage and career together, the Bryans have made many friends and acquaintances whom they’ve endeavored to help whenever they might need it.
The Bryans’ caring and giving nature is something that quickly became apparent to Phillip and Jaime Mitchell and drew them to the Bryans’ when they first arrived on station.
“Our first week here in Iwakuni, they were just some of the first people that were so genuine to us, to welcome us from the bottom of their heart,” said Phillip, “That stood out to us a lot. Both of them are just so genuine, and they‘ll do anything for anyone. They will give you the shirt off their back if you need it. They are phenomenal.”
They made a deep impression on the couple as genuinely friendly people and good Marines. “I think that they have truly showed an example of what the United States Marine Corps stands for, for their values, their integrity, and everything about the mission,” said Jaime. “I would say that they are a clear example of the United States Marine Corps. From the females aspect and the males aspect and then also from the husband and wife, the spouses side of it. They are a complete package.”
After 21 one years of service, 10 of which they’ve served together, the Bryans, along with their four children, are ready to move on to new experiences and have chosen Douglasville, Ga., as their new home.
Although looking to new horizons, Richard and Sabrina know something about their time in the Marine Corps will always stay with them.
“Once a Marine, always a Marine,” said Richard. “I may not wear the uniform, but it’s still going to be within me. After 21 years, you don’t just walk away from it. It’s going to be with you for a long time. That will never change.”