My Story

I was born in Jackson, Michigan in 1992, to my parents Mike and Lisa Wetzel. I have one brother whose name is Ben, and one sister whose name is Marlee. I lived my childhood years in Pleasant Lake, Michigan. A small community located north of Jackson and south of Lansing.

I went to Northwest (K-10th) and Leslie High school (10th-12th). I graduated from Leslie High in 2010. I bounced around from small job to small job until I ended up going to college in 2012. I attended Baker College of Jackson for their Optician program. I made the “deans list” five of the six semesters while at Baker College. I graduated in the Spring of 2014, with an Applied Science degree and was ABOC (American Board of Opticianry Certification).

However, it still did not feel like where I was meant to be. So in 2016, I would leave my hometown, friends, family, and my college career to join the Marines. During my time in the Marines, I was sent to MCRD San Diego for Bootcamp, ITB (Infantry Training Battalion) in Camp Pendleton. I was given orders to 1st Battalion 5th Marines after completing ITB for the MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) 0331 Machine Gunner. I did one deployment with 1/5 CAAT (Combined Anti-Armor Team). I have been to Hawaii (twice), Guam (twice), Singapore, India, Djibouti, Libya, Jordan, and Greece. My EAS was in January of 2020.

In June of 2020, I married my amazing wife Brianna. In the end of June, we loaded up a moving truck and our little Nissan Versa and drove from San Diego, California to our new home in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This move was my doing as I started at Western Michigan University in the Public History program in the fall of 2020. In the Spring of 2022, I applied for and was granted access to the Accelerated Graduate Degree Program for Public History, which opened the door to graduate coursework during my undergraduate senior year. I am a member of Phi Alpha Theta (National History Honors Society), Tau Sigma ( Honor Society for university transfer students), and Student Veterans of America.

I achieved my bachelor in Arts and Sciences for Public History in August of 2023. Also, that summer I attended a Study Aboard opportunity, where I went for two weeks to Berlin, Germany. The focus of the trip was to study both WWII and the Cold War from sites in the Berlin and Brandenburg areas. Currently, I am working on my Masters Degree in Public History also at Western Michigan University. This website and the oral histories are both part of my Practicum, or special project, for my Masters degree.