LEXINGTON, S.C. – A life-changing opportunity for a homeless teen in South Carolina started with a shoplifting call to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputy John Sanders was dispatched to the call at a grocery store. The teen was charged with stealing food from the deli. Sanders arrested the teen and transported him to the Lexington County Detention Center for a night in jail.
“His biggest need was that he was struggling to get some food,” Sanders said. “And, he didn’t have a job to bring in any income.”
Sanders said he thought joining the military might be a good option for the teen, who was still going to high school while living in the woods behind the grocery store.
“From my experience with the military, you’re fed, you get a place to sleep and you get paid for it,” said Sanders, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.
Sanders worked with a judge and other law enforcement agencies on the charges against the teen before reaching out to the local Marine Corps recruiting office.
“Deputy Sanders gave me a call, ‘Hey man, there’s a kid who’s in a bad situation. I want to know if you can help him,’” said Sgt. Brent Latham, a recruiter for the Marine Corps who agreed to meet the teen at a coffee shop. “I had a description of what this young man apparently looked like. I rolled the window down and said, ‘Hey, are you Brian?’ He said, ‘Yes, sir,’ and I told him to get in.”
Brian Gilbert said he didn’t know what he wanted to do in life after finding himself living in a tent in the woods behind a shopping center. He missed more days at school than he attended. He credits Sanders and Latham with changing his path and giving him a different option.
“He brought up the Marines,” Gilbert said. “And I was like, let’s just go for it. I met with the recruiter…and signed the papers. I mean this is way better off than I thought I would be.”
For Latham, his meeting with Gilbert was more about helping someone rather than a recruiting assignment.
“I wanted to give him an opportunity to do something with his life,” Latham said. “If he was willing to take that challenge, which he did.”
Gilbert graduated from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, in May 2024. Both Sanders and Latham attended the ceremony.
“I told him before he left I would do my best to attend his graduation,” Sanders said. “He was grinning from ear to ear. He gave me a hug and said, ‘Thanks for all the help.’”
“When I saw him at graduation, it was so impactful,” Latham said. “There was one young man who was struggling and, because of one phone call, to then trust me to do my job as a recruiter. We took Brian and put him on the road to success…it’s great.”
Sanders and Gilbert have stayed in touch as Gilbert has gone on to advanced engineering training at Marine Corp Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
“I talk to him all the time,” Gilbert said. “He’s a great person to go to. I can talk to him about anything and he’s always there to just listen.”
“It took one phone call from a deputy to a Marine Corps recruiter to get someone from a terrible situation in the woods to a full career and a salary,” Latham said. “One phone call can absolutely make a difference.”