Growing up in Red Hook, Philip Kraft remembers always wanting and waiting to join the military.

From the time he was small, the military was a dream he and his brother shared together. Their father, a military man himself, was part of the Navy for 16 years, and both of his sons wanted to join the service as well.

“Joining the military had been the plan all my life. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” Kraft said.

The family moved upstate to Preston in 2000, just two years before Phil graduated from High School. During that time, he played football and took courses in Martial Arts in Norwich. Directly following his high school graduation from Oxford Academy, Phil joined the Marines. The country already at war, Phil was uncertain were his decision would take him and how much of the world he would see. His first deployment took him overseas to Spain for two years. He worked in Security Forces on the Spanish African border, doing anti-terrorist missions.