Marine veteran Ralph Sarabia takes you inside the chaos of Iraq...convoys hit by IEDs, RPGs ripping overhead, close-quarters ambushes, and the split-second choices that decide who makes it home. 

In todays Urban Valor Podcast episode, he opens up about survivor’s guilt, hypervigilance, and rebuilding life after deployment with faith, family, and boxing. This is a raw, unfiltered account of Marine combat and the fight to heal.

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Video chapters: 
00:00 First firefight: RPGs, incoming, “pull the trigger, find peace”
03:32 Father absent, taking care of mom, finding a role model in a Ranger
11:41 Caught stealing as a kid—lesson that stuck
14:46 Enlisting after 9/11; boot camp identity strip, asthma scare
29:24 Unit culture, hazing, and the 48-hour call to war
38:26 Desert staging & push toward Baghdad
41:09 “I don’t want to die” — reality of contact and wounded Marines
53:48 Homecoming numbness; living like a “watchman on the wall”
1:03:13 Ramadi: daily ambushes, IEDs, morale tactics under fire
1:12:53 60 Minutes coverage; nonstop losses & memorials
1:18:49 Close calls, survivor’s guilt after Clifton’s death
1:35:13 High-profile security work, USC, brain health treatment
1:51:05 Boxing, faith, entrepreneurship—turning pain into purpose
1:56:50 Closing thoughts to vets

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