Marine Corps Veteran Roger Michael Hall pulls no punches in this episode of Urban Valor. From 2017–2022, Roger served as an infantry mortarman (0341) — but this isn’t the recruiting poster version of the Corps. This is the truth about months living on a Navy ship, crammed into tight berthing spaces, working long hours, and finding ways to stay sane in a floating steel city.

Roger shares it all: wild overseas port calls, boot camp fights, grueling Mountain Warfare training, and the mental grind of deployment life at sea with hundreds of Marines shoulder-to-shoulder. He opens up about the moments that made him question why he joined — and the experiences that shaped who he is today.

If you’ve ever wondered what Marine Corps life aboard a Navy ship is really like, this is the story no one tells!

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Video chapters: 
00:00 Boot camp fights & ship life
01:34 Childhood & family background
04:01 Why Roger joined the Marines
08:11 Brutal boot camp training stories
22:01 Mountain warfare training & fatigue
35:09 Life aboard ship & dark humor
50:34 Wild deployment & barracks stories
1:11:09 Border Patrol mission under Trump
1:19:06 COVID-era deployment in Japan
1:22:04 Civilian life struggles & therapy
1:24:46 Advice for veterans after service

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