SALUTE TO VETERANS | A Marine career that spanned the globe

(CANBY) — Spending 22 years serving in the U.S. Marine Corps takes one all over the world, and into all sorts of interesting situations. When Canby’s Alex Bello left the Corps in 1999, he knew two things: first, he wanted to get some schooling; second, he wanted to build things for people. And that’s what he’s been doing since. “I was tired of destruction. I wanted to build things, to build community, and that got me into construction,” Bello, age 68, explained. “The combat engineers piqued my interest in getting into construction. I just knew I didn’t want to go into law enforcement or a federal agency, which a lot of peers had done.” Bello’s Marine Corps journey actually began when he was about 14 years old. His brother-in-law took him to the July 4th parade in California, and the Marines were there with a color guard. “He had been in the Marines and our conversation sort of ended with him telling me that I should join,” said Bello.

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