Justin’s Corner
Justin! I first want to tell everyone how we met. I was driving down to my mailbox one day last winter, when I saw a gathering of people (and BBQ!) down at Homer’s Auto Services. They were standing together to show strength for veterans’ mental health and homelessness issues. I rushed back home to grab a proper camera, and I returned to introduce myself and see if you all would mind being photographed. Well, you didn’t mind at all, and in fact you pretty much adopted me into your family that day. I’ve been to a handful of your amazing events, made friends with your friends and family, shot thousands of photos. Now I would like to have you share the story of how you came to create the Oath to Country Foundation, and what you’re up to.
Use these questions and statements as a springboard, because you might think of something important that’s not written here.
Tell us about your grandfather. What was it about him that inspired you?
Why do you do what you do?
Have you been called upon to do something courageous?
What sort of things are you passionate about?
You were on your way to a pro baseball career when you got injured. Tell us about that, and how did that affect where you are today?
How can people help with your mission?
Don’t forget to send me a short bio to include in the story!
On January 30th, 2021 Louie and I first met. To Louie’s surprise he witnessed a group of individuals on the corner of Lemon and Ivy in Monrovia at my uncle and aunt’s mechanic shop, Homer’s Auto Service for reasons unbeknownst to him. With my uncle’s blessing, we hosted our 1st BBQ for Mental Health fundraiser at the shop in collaboration with Stars and Stripes BBQ to financially support our programs. The event brought together the Monrovia Police and Fire Departments, friends and families from surrounding communities, supporting organizations, and veterans for a day of fellowship for a good cause. I was asked by a fellow Monrovian by the name of Louie the Lens what we were doing and if it would be okay to take photos of everyone present. This was the start to our friendship. It was then Louie was accepted by the Foundation for his love and support of helping us help our nation’s heroes. Since then, we’ve been sharing amazing experiences together at various suicide awareness and prevention events we’ve hosted throughout 2021 and 2022 which were captured through the lens of his Leica cameras. With those photos we’ve shared people’s life experiences, stories of service, loss, hope, friendship, recovery, and the importance of mental health.
Let’s rewind time for a moment. Dating back to one evening in November 2020 my mom Nancy called me to her room and offered me a weather beaten manila envelope with documents pertaining to my grandfather Joe’s death in 1983. For perspective, this was 5 years before I was born. Inside the envelope I read on the Honorable Discharge certificate the name of the man that didn’t match with Joe’s. I knew Joe forged his birth certificate to enlist in the US Army in 1945 with falsified information but I never believed it let alone saw it with my own eyes. My mom said, “Do whatever you wish with this information” so I walked out of the room and went straight to my computer to honor a forgotten WWII veteran and to serve my country by starting a non-profit organization to end veteran suicide. This moment with my mom was my Genesis moment, a moment I’ll never forget for as long as I live because I knew God was leading me to that precise place and time since birth, to that very evening, to that very folder that landed in my hands.
Forgotten you might ask? My grandfather was buried in 1983 without any recognition of his service to our country at the time of death. My mom was 17 at the time. The cemetery needed documentation of his service to coordinate a hero’s farewell but no one could locate his service records so he was laid to rest with no flag given to my family on behalf of a grateful country. At midnight on July 12, 1973 my grandfather’s service records, along with 16-18 million other service member records from 1912 to 1964 were burned at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri so proving his service was problematic. For many service members records were damaged and/or erased from history. Sad to think how many families fought the same battle as my mom once did as a teen as well as myself and still to this day so many are fighting to prove their loved one’s service. My grandfather Joe B. Montoya served in the U.S. Army from 1944 – 1959 in the 26th Infantry Regiment known as the Blue Spaders.
I wish Joe were alive so I could tell him I did this to serve God’s will and to share his name with the world so I keep it silently in my prayers at night. In my opinion, Joe’s death was the greatest gift to me because if it didn’t happen the way it did this Foundation would not exist today. It’s amazing to feel the beauty in his early death because 37 years later it became the catalyst to save lives from suicide for the Foundation. See, I never met my grandfather and if I could ask him 100,000 questions right now I would honorably take the opportunity. Why did you leave home in 1945, or was it 1944? Why did you forge your birth certificate, you weren’t even old enough to enlist? Did your friends do the same thing, too? What was it like when you were in? Were you ever scared? Did your friends make it back home? I have so many unanswered questions for him so I truly look forward to having that conversation with him when we meet for the first time.
I challenged the system all of November and December 2019. After exhausting many leads, calls, and faxes to the VA and NPRC to prove his service, in December 2019 the VA recently awarded our family with a U.S. Army Veteran medallion to be placed on his headstone along with a Presidential Memorial Certificate signed by the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
The non-profit Oath To Country Foundation was officially registered with the State of California in April of 2020. Then the worldwide pandemic happened and Covid struck. What a time to form a non-profit, right? Having zero knowledge about what it meant to start one, it sure was a labor of love and an unforgettable experience. Initially, I thought this is the worst timing ever, but I kept the faith and made my first move August 8th, 2020 during the worst lockdown period in Los Angeles County. Knowing the risks, I set out on the California coast to run 22 miles for 22 veterans who take their lives a day by way of suicide with 22 pounds with my good friend Jerry and several family members who were on bikes behind me. “The time is now, Jerry, we’re losing veterans at a higher rate due to the pandemic,” as I explained to Jerry, so we set sail on the coast to raise awareness and prevention of veteran suicide. Miles 15-22 was some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt, but with God and my grandfather by my side whom shall I be afraid. So I ran and I ran with a suicide awareness flag to open up the message about suicide during one of the toughest periods in America’s history.
Since then, we’ve conducted 4 22-mile runs, 4 beach yoga for mental health, sponsored combat veterans psychotherapy sessions, helped our homeless veterans at the VA Greater Los Angeles, 1 1-mile mental health awareness walk in partnership with the City of Baldwin Park, donated 700+ toys to children all over Southern California and donated to those with financial needs.
Our Board of Directors is comprised of such a diverse group of beautiful individuals. Jim Helms World War II Veteran, Eddie Coronado USMC Afghanistan War Veteran, Jaclin Awad Attorney, Eddie Hernandez U.S. Army Iraq War Veteran, Sandy Sanchez USN Vietnam War Veteran and the woman who fought for my grandfather at the time of death, my mom, Nancy Gracieux. Looking back to 2019 and most of 2020 when I started the organization I would’ve never thought in a million years we all would come to know each other and work side by side to lead the Foundation. My original feelings were take me back to feeling I was going to be alone on this but I was wrong from the very start. We are a band of brothers and sisters bringing experience, heart, passion, drive, emotion, and determination to the cause for making the world a better place. This is not just my legacy, this is all of our combined. Each of our future generations long after us will know about the few who stood together in arms and led the way for mental health. I would recommend everyone in the world to meet each of these Directors once in their lifetime because of who they were, where they are today and where the lives are headed. I pray God continues to bless them as they are truly a blessing, not only to myself but to many others.
I doubted myself every single day leading up to August 8th, 2020 because I never wore the uniform that bears our nation’s flag, and I was told it wouldn’t work from the start. I remember vividly one night before bed praying to the Good Lord telling Him how wrong it felt to start this and how scared I was because I never served. I recall asking Him to open the doors for me to serve His people and I’ll never look back. I chuckle as I look back at the level of fear I had because look at where we are today. I give all the thanks and praise to Him for walking alongside me because I haven’t looked back since.
There is this clip in the true story adventure movie called 127 Hours where actor (James Franco) who played real life survivor Aron Ralstons who spoke about how the rock he was trapped against was waiting for him his entire life, since the minute he was born. Every breath, every action he had taken action led him to that moment. By no comparison did I experience anything remotely close but back in November 2008 while in the bullpen at Pasadena City College my last pitch of the day before going home was when trauma struck. I look back and think how different my life would’ve been had that one pitch never happened that afternoon because that was supposed to be my year as starter on the team. What if I went home the pitch before? What if I threw it more over the top? Maybe opportunities to Ivy league schools? Maybe drafted? Maybe the doors would’ve opened that my parents and I worked for since the age of 3 ½ when I first started throwing a baseball which was to play professionally. God had different plans for my life. My last pitch of the day was a ¾ slider in front of the team and pitching coach and everyone heard this high pitch loud [POP] as my arm fell to my side and I couldn’t even lift a 5.25 ounce baseball to test if I could throw across the plate. I was in shock. Before I knew it, it’s January 4, 2009 and I’m having Tommy John Surgery by the Dodgers Team physician at Kerlan and Jobe in Los Angeles. Every success and failure, win and loss, every team I have ever played for, every practice, and private coaching lesson led me to that one pitch as if it was waiting for me since birth similarly to how it was referenced in the movie. This was my rock moment. Opportunities gone, my identity slowly evaporated, and dreams stripped from under me. Pitching never felt the same post-recovery but while looking back to this moment as I write this I am so utterly thankful it happened the way it did because it led me to working with children as a school age counselor, then for a non-profit tutoring underserved children (this was when I first said to myself I’m going to start a non-profit one day) and competitive gymnastics coach while training children with autism.
In 2013 I graduated with my Bachelors, graduated with my Masters in 2015, and recently completed my Doctorate after 6 years in 2021. I’ve been working full-time in healthcare for 8 years now and operate the non-profit full-time as Chief Executive Officer. As the heir to a Blue Spader and someone whose career is in healthcare administration, it is my obligation to our veterans to stand ready to serve them when they need help with their medical needs.
OTCF dedicates its mission to the love of God, family, and country. Our aim is to work together with our partnerships and community to forge strong bonds and lifetime support in providing military, veterans, and first responders with mental health resources, raising awareness and prevention of suicide and alleviating the hardships of those heroes who become homeless.
You can get involved by following our mission on Instagram and Facebook for upcoming events. You may also help by monetary donation, dog food, new clothing and practical resources for our homeless veterans.
Please reach out to your friends and family.
No story should ever end too soon.
Godspeed
Dr. Justin Ryan Gracieux
