Bryan Escobedo was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Bryan decided to become a Marine on September 11, 2001when he was in 10th grade. He joined the United States Marine Corps right out of High School in 2003, and served 5 years honorably as a Sergeant and Combat Engineer where he specialized in explosives. Bryan is a Purple Heart veteran, with three back to back tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2005-2007. He earned the Purple Heart for multiple blast injuries while in the Al-Anbar Province of Iraq. Bryan has worked in the local and national veteran nonprofit community where he spearheaded a veteran employment initiative, and created a veteran peer-to-peer counseling program focused on suicide prevention. Bryan was awarded the Clear Creek ISD Valor Award, named a Houston Astros Hometown Hero in 2012, and has appeared on the Stephen Colbert Report. He recently graduated with a B.A. in Communication Studies, with Minors in Philosophy and Psychology. Bryan works for Veteran Energy doing Business Development. His most recent initiative is working with refugees of the Syrian Civil War that are relocating to Houston.