A Purple Heart, A Lifetime of Service

In 2007, Rafael Cervantes Jr. walked into a Marine Corps recruiting office with a friend who had recently taken the Oath to serve. Simply running errands in California alongside his friend, he had no interest in enlisting.
While making small talk with someone in the office, Cervantes was asked if he would ever join. He answered with a sincere “no.” Their response changed everything.
“Yeah, you probably couldn’t be a Marine,” they said.
Eighteen years later, 1st Sgt. Cervantes is serving as the senior enlisted advisor of USMEPCOM 11th Battalion and St. Louis MEPS. For him, that responsibility is about far more than processing applicants. It is about helping people see what they are capable of becoming.
Four years after enlisting, Cervantes was wounded when he was struck by an explosion while serving in Afghanistan. His injuries included broken feet, a broken back and pelvis, a compound fracture, hip injuries and a brain injury. He also battled a serious infection in his right ankle and spent three years as a wounded warrior.
“You get one life,” Cervantes said. “And I think there’s a reason why I’m still alive. There’s a reason why every single one of us still wakes up every day.”
He remembers those who never had the opportunity to return home, or who lost the ability to walk. For Cervantes, those realities provide perspective every day.
“I have four beautiful daughters that look at me and they think of me as a role model, as a father, as a friend,” he said. “How do I stay the healthiest possible, to have the best life possible, to be around and give them all the love they possibly need?”
His Purple Heart is a visible reminder of what he has endured, but he refuses to let his injuries define what he can do. That philosophy is at the center of the advice he gives young service members.
“Never give up,” Cervantes said. “Whatever goal you have, keep pushing for it. There’s nothing that other people can do to stop you. You just gotta go out there and do it.”
Even after his injuries, Cervantes wanted to remain in the Marine Corps. He saw staying in as an opportunity to continue helping people.His leadership philosophy is straightforward: help people make better decisions rather than simply giving them answers. It is about giving people enough perspective to make their own decisions.
That approach has extended beyond St. Louis MEPS. Cervantes has also been selected as a mentor for new commanders and senior enlisted advisors, giving him another avenue to pass along the lessons he has accumulated throughout his career. The leaders he mentors today will eventually influence their own organizations and people.
Cervantes believes MEPS personnel have an obligation to remember what is at stake for the people they serve. Some applicants may arrive carrying circumstances that are difficult for those on the other side of the desk to see.
“Some of these kids, they live in a rough neighborhood, they live in a rough situation and are under so much pressure,” Cervantes said. “Sometimes the military is the only way out. If they want to join the military, we should do everything in our power to help them through that process.”
Cervantes has seen the influence of service play out in his own family. As the oldest of four brothers and one sister, Cervantes learned early that taking care of others was part of his responsibility.
“My mother was a single woman raising us, and I was the oldest,” he said. “So as the biggest, I always had to take care of my siblings.”
When his younger brother, Luis, who was born right before Rafael enlisted, decided to join the Marine Corps, Cervantes was surprised. He had pushed his other brother toward military service in the past and he believes that pressure created resentment. With Luis, he deliberately took a different approach.
Instead, Luis spent summers with Cervantes, going to the lake and river and staying at his house.
“I think for him, he just saw a different life,” Cervantes said.
Eventually, Luis made the decision on his own. Cervantes was there when his brother earned the Eagle, Globe and Anchor atop a mountain in California. Standing among roughly 250 new Marines, Cervantes could barely recognize the person he was looking for.
“I just couldn’t believe that was him,” he said. “I was looking at my little brother, but it was a grown man. I don’t think I’ve ever been squeezed by any human being in my life that hard.”
As they walked down the mountain, Luis could have stayed beside his brother and enjoyed the moment. Instead, he stopped to help another new Marine struggling with his pack. For Cervantes, that was the real measure of his brother’s transformation.
“I probably felt the most accomplished,” he said. “To see my brother say, ‘I’m not going to be selfish and stay here and talk to you,’ even though he could have.”
Following a hip replacement, Cervantes found another place to mentor young people. Before his injuries, soccer was an important part of his life. The surgery gave him the ability to play again. He started coaching and then shifted to refereeing.
“There’s zero problems on the field,” he said. “Nothing else matters for 90 minutes. Whatever pain, depression or anxiety I have goes away.”
Cervantes referees youth, high school, college and academy-level soccer, giving him another opportunity to encourage young people who are learning how to compete, overcome setbacks and grow.
“You get to see these kids grow up, you get to see these kids evolve and make better decisions,” he said. “You get to mentor them, talk to them and push them.”
He sees refereeing as a possible professional career someday and even dreams of becoming a professional referee with a Purple Heart, a distinction he has not seen before.
After 18 years in uniform, Cervantes knows his generation will eventually have to hand the reins to the next one. He believes today’s young people have access to information, technology and resources that can help them become stronger and more capable. His responsibility, he said, is to make sure they have the tools to use those advantages. That includes teaching them something he believes is more important than any technical skill.
“You don’t have to change who you are to be successful in life,” he said. “You just gotta be a good person. Sometimes calling someone by their name, giving them a genuine compliment – you can change their life, because you never know what people are going through.”
Whether he is mentoring a new senior leader, encouraging an applicant, watching his younger brother become a Marine or standing at midfield with a whistle in his hand, Cervantes continues to help others move forward and encourages them to never let a setback decide what comes next.

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