“Efren left behind his mother, step-father, five sisters, one brother, four nieces and two nephews. After the Marines, he wanted to be a part of something that he felt would make a difference in the world. We never knew what that could be. He was a USC Trojans fan. He loved to run in his free time – he would run wherever his legs would take him. We miss him every day.” Shared by his sister, Sarrah
“Tragically, Ren Celestino, became one of the 22 veterans that commits suicide daily. Ren was much more than just a veteran. Most importantly he was a son, grandson, brother, cousin, nephew, and friend. Somewhere between all of that he was a United States Marine. He faithfully served his country as an Infantry Marine. A title that few before him has earned and one that held a great deal of meaning to him. Ren always had a passion for running, this became evident from the multiple running groups that he joined after the Marine Corps. He had more passion and loyalty to his friends than most of us realized. While another brother in arms was having a hard time in life Ren stepped up, raised money, and ran a marathon in his honor. Ren often posted videos of himself eating dinner with local homeless population in his area. Learning their stories, sharing his meal, and seeing them for the human that they are. While most of us would just walk past them, Ren sat with them. This is the type of man that he was, he did it out of the love in his heart. We all could learn a little something from Ren. We must learn from this tragedy, we all must come together, and we need to do everything that we can to make sure this does not happen to anyone else. Whatever his reason was, it was bigger than any of us will ever know. Marines, never leave a man behind. This is not a new concept to us; we must step up and take whatever burden off of his family that we can. Ren was loyal to us; it is our time to be loyal to him.” Shared by Carl Wassberg, USMC (same squad as Ren; they deployed together)
States he called home: California
#22toomany#OurHeroes are #NeverForgotten
