Robert Ortiz

A Walking Distance Robert Ortiz

A Walking Distance is an autobiography that takes you from a small growing border town in south Texas to the Middleast; where along the way, the story derives from growing up in the hardships of a low income family and the dream of a young man searching for a purpose while divided between religion, race and the choices in life. He learns and grows by staying away from the constant drugs and gangs in school only to find the association he wanted in the football team. After being a part of an up-and-rising successful Texas high school football program, his experience in the football stardom takes him one step higher to the hardest task he had ever come across as he joins the elite fighting force in the United States Marines. He quickly learns that the Marine Corps is not at all what he expected as he lives the life of a marine and is flown overseas to fight in the Iraq War. A Walking Distance truly takes you for a ride and it never lets up as the road twists and turns towards an indefinite conclusion. The author carries you from Laredo to the Middleast then back again in a constant cycle as he walks towards what is needed to be successful and the simple pursuit of happiness in an unseen future.