Veteran of the Week: Tim Edwards
Tim Edwards (Contributed)
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By Nick Sellers | Staff Writer
MADISON – Halfway across the country, and halfway across the world, Tim Edwards served his country as a United States Marine and eventually made his way to Madison with his job.
After graduating from high school in Santa Clara, Calif. in 1984, Edwards spent two years at a junior college before enlisting three years later and shipping off to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.
“Everyone’s a Marine rifleman after boot camp,” Edwards said.
After boot camp, Edwards was attached to the 8th Marine Regiment in Camp Lejeune, N.C. He later served as a Marine Security Guard at U.S. embassies, a capacity he served for a little over a year before going to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton with the 11th Marine Regiment, an artillery regiment.
Towards the end of his first five years, a typical tour of duty for the Marines, the U.S. military began building up forces in Saudi Arabia in August 1990 ahead of Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait.
That action led Edwards to ask for another year of active duty so that he could serve overseas. Edwards served as perimeter security at different headquarters for the military in Saudi Arabia, and also saw combat, for which he and other Marines he served alongside were awarded the Combat Action Ribbon.
Edwards served overseas from September 1991 until April 1992, when he served out the rest of his tour stateside. He was discharged in February 1992 and soon moved to Birmingham to take a job at with Bruno’s Supermarkets.
In 1999, he and his family moved to Madison, where he now works with Trans Action Real Estate. Edwards said he enjoys having a job where he can essentially be his own boss and employ some of the lessons he learned as a Marine.
“I loved the leadership traits, the morals and ethics I learned in the Marine Corps,” Edwards said.
