JALALABAD AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN -- Growing up in the communist shadow cast by dictator Fidel Castro's regime, the young boy knew nothing of toys, store-bought clothes, or the world outside his immediate dilapidated neighborhood in the Havana City borough of Havana, Cuba. Still, it was a happy childhood. Sticks, stones, and empty aluminum cans became playthings, while tightly wrapped plastic bags became makeshift soccer balls. The world revolved around the neighborhood, family and friends. As a child, he knew nothing else, not including what they taught him in the government run schools - things like an impending invasion from the so-called imperialistic United States. When the attack came, it was always when; never if, he was taught that it was the duty of every Cuban citizen, children included, to grab a rifle and defend the homeland. "I was always scared as a boy that America was going to come and try to kill me and my family and take away our house," said Pfc. Norris Atesiano, a 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment administrative clerk who is currently serving in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. "I am no longer that boy, and I am no longer afraid." Atesiano's journey from boyhood to manhood began earlier than most. He puts the age when he really had to start growing up at around 7. "When I was 7, my father, two uncles, and a close family friend got into a raft and rowed themselves from Cuba to America," recalled Atesiano. "It took them six days. Somehow, without so much as a working engine and against all odds, they made it." So that Atesiano would not worry, his parents decided not to tell him of the journey until after his father left. "My dad was former Cuban military, and he trained hard for the journey - as if he was preparing for a combat operation," said Atesiano. "He would take me to the beach all the time. I thought, 'Boy, my dad sure likes to swim a lot,'" chuckled Atesiano as he recalled his father's physical training regiment in the months before the trip. "Every day he was out swimming in the ocean, doing push ups, running. Little did I know then what he was preparing for." And little did Atesiano or his father know it would be seven years before they would see each other again. "After my dad was granted political asylum, we applied to Washington, D.C., for visas every year," said Atesiano. "For Cubans, at the time, the system was a lottery, meaning they picked a certain amount of applications per year and reviewed those applications. On the seventh year of trying, when I was 14, we finally hit the visa lottery and were allowed to come to America." Those seven years were long and hard, explained Atesiano, and the family considered alternate methods of reuniting with his father on more than one occasion. "A couple times, we came very close to getting on boats to try to sneak into America, but my mother was always too worried for my safety," recalled Atesiano. "It is a dangerous trip. Many die on the way - from drowning, dehydration, sharks, or simply getting lost at sea - while others who are caught before reaching the shores of America face deportation camps in America and far worse - in Cuba. You've actually got to touch land on American soil. If you're still in the ocean and two feet from land and immigration catches you, you might as well be a million miles away. It is for nothing." When Atesiano's visa was finally approved, it was just in the nick of time. "I was almost 15, and in Cuba when you turn 15, you have to sign up for compulsory military service," explained Atesiano. "Even though you're not forced to serve until you turn 18, once you're in the system, the Cuban government is not going to let you out of the country until you do your time in the military. I barely had time to get my papers in order." Atesiano started school soon after arriving in Miami. "I was nervous because I didn't know any English," recalled Atesiano. "That didn't turn out to be a problem. In Miami, you could live your whole life without speaking English - even in school. I mean, officially it was in English, but in reality, everyone was still speaking Spanish. A lot of my new school friends didn't even make an effort to learn the language. For me, though, my dad had always told me how important it was to learn English once I came to America, so I studied and learned on my own - outside of school. In about two years I could speak what would pass as fluently, but in truth, I consider myself to still be learning the language." After graduating from high school, Atesiano worked for a couple of years, floating from job to job in a continuing effort to help his family financially. It is a responsibility he maintained throughout his teenage years and one that continues today. "In spite of the scare tactics and revisionist history taught to us in the Cuban governments schools, my childhood, like most kids in Cuba, was a happy one," said Atesiano. "From the time you are born until about the age of 12, Cuban kids are allowed to be just that - kids. We didn't have anything, but we didn't know any different either. I never owned clothes from a store until I came to America. My grandma made all our clothes."As he grew older, it was against that backdrop that Atesiano learned the harsh realities of survival under a communist dictatorship. "By the time you hit 12 or 13, it's a fact of life that you are expected to start contributing to the family - financially," explained Atesiano. "The communist Cuban government gives you monthly food rations - things like rice, beans, flour and butter - but it's never enough. Salaries are based on how many family members you have. My aunt, who was a successful attorney by Cuban standards, had to walk to work because she could never afford a car. Teachers, for example, make about six dollars a month." "The only way to make money in Cuba is to hustle," continued Atesiano. "By hustle, I don't mean selling drugs or anything like that, but you do have to sell whatever you don't absolutely need to make ends meet. For example, if I had a banana, instead of eating it, I might try to sell it. Or try to sell any extra clothes I had. It's just the way of life." After being exposed to life in America, Atesiano came to the realization that he could better himself and his family. "In Cuba, ambition is frowned upon by the government, but America is the land of opportunity," said Atesiano. "In America, I can provide for my family like a man. In America, I can be whatever I want to be."For Atesiano, what it turned out he wanted to be more than anything was a United States Marine. "I wanted to repay the United States for giving me and my family the chance to have a better life," explained Atesiano about his decision to join the Marine Corps. "There is no better way to pay back a country than to serve that country."Now, roughly 10 months to the day that he first stepped on the "yellow footprints" at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Atesiano finds himself in a combat zone in Afghanistan. "I'm amazed at how fast he picks things up," said Lance Cpl. Tyler Weed, a 1/3 administrative clerk and Iraq veteran who served in Fallujah with 1/3 on their last combat deployment. "Coming basically straight from MOS (military occupational specialty) school to a combat zone can't be easy. He's handled it remarkably well," admitted the Tacoma, Wash. native. Gunnery Sgt. Philip Myers, 1/3 administrative chief, said he couldn't agree more. "Pfc. Atesiano has risen to the challenge," said the Ewa Beach, Hawaii native. "He's been in the Corps less than a year, and he's already in a combat zone. For a lot of people, that would be overwhelming, but he has taken it all in stride and is proving himself to be a Marine who deserves not only respect but also responsibility beyond that normally afforded to someone with his experience."According to Cpl. Ramon Aldana, a 1/3 administrative clerk from Whittier, Calif., Atesiano performs at a level that belies his time in service. "Pfc. Atesiano embodies everything that you would expect a Marine to be," commented Aldana. "By his every action, he strives to and does in fact live up to our core values of honor, courage and commitment. His story is inspiring to me. My family came to this country from Nicaragua when I was 5. I've lived practically my whole life in America. But for him, he's only been in America a few short years, and look what's he's accomplished. I am proud to call him one of my Marines."For his part, Atesiano said he wouldn't want to be any place else. "I'm glad I'm here," exclaimed Atesiano, as he passionately explained the parallels between his country of birth and the one on whose soil he currently serves. "Afghanistan reminds me a lot of Cuba. Not in the sense of climate or landscape obviously, but in the sense that both the Cubans and the Afghans have been oppressed for so long." "Like I said before," continued Atesiano, "when I was 7 years old, our Cuban teachers told us that we had to be prepared to pick up a rifle and fight the evil Americans. It's the same thing here, where religious zealots and insurgents spread lies about America and say that we are going to try to take away their religion and destroy Islam." "Afghan children get brainwashed by the insurgents, just like the government tried to brainwash us when I was a kid in Cuba," remarked Atesiano. "In Cuba, we didn't know of anything outside of Cuba. We didn't know that everything we were being taught in school was a lie. When I see these people over here, it reminds me of where I grew up. These people here don't have anything. All they want is a chance for a better life. I want to help give them that."