By JOSELYN KING

For The Times Leader

FLUSHING — Marine veteran John Mattox Jr. attributes the Marine Corps for helping him find his identity and learn that he could add value to society.

He also honed his love for technology while serving, and it led to his current career in information technology.

“It saved my life,” he said of the Marine Corps. “I felt like I matter and I add value. “I found out I could do a lot more than what I thought I could.

“It got me to where I am today. Sometimes as a young man or young woman, you are trying to find your identity in the world. They filled my cup up so much, and I began to believe I could do more than what I was doing.”

Mattox, 50, a Flushing native, enlisted in the Marines right out of Union Local High School.

“I did some time in the Marine Corps — about eight years total,” he said.

He served from 1993-1999, followed by two years of inactive duty. Most of that time Mattox served as an administrative clerk, and discovered his love for technology. He isn’t certain why he was attracted to being a Marine, but he admits it was something he always wanted to do from childhood.

“They just looked amazing in their uniform,” he said. “One of the first people I ever saw in that dress blue uniform was my godbrother (Jeffrey Potter). I think that is what it was.

“When he went off to boot camp he got me a T-shirt with their bulldog logo on it. At that time it had a lot of appeal for me. I was probably about 10 or 12 years old. I kind of just gravitated toward the Marine Corps for that reason.”

Mattox said he has always been ambitious and adventurous.

“It was a lot about that too,” he continued. “I was curious about getting out of the Ohio Valley and seeing what else was out there.”

He acknowledges his experience in the Marines was “a little different” than most.

Mattox started out after boot camp in the Marine Reserves, then went back into active duty in the Marine Corps to support the reserves.

“Most of my active duty in the service was as active duty staff to support the reserves,” he explained. “We never really deployed anywhere. We did go on some active training with the reserves to some interesting places.”

He went to Norway with the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines weapons company out of Moundsville.

“We were considered a cold-weather unit, and did a lot of training in cold weather areas like Norway,” Mattox said. “We did Bridgeport, California in the mountains of California.

“I was never deployed to anywhere like Guantanamo. But it did give me the effort to focus on things I could do when I got out.”

He described his experience as “a very good time,” and that he had a lot of close friends.

While in active duty, Mattox was assigned to the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing out of New Orleans, the headquarters for the reserve component of the Marine Corps.

“It was such a catalyst in my life,” he explained. “I was writing orders for the reserve Marines. I was processing awards. I was doing a lot of stuff at the high level.

“That was a different spin for me, because no one had ever depended on me in my life. I had worked a few fast food jobs, but this was different. I felt like I was adding value.”

In his role, he helped other soldiers with their pay issues.

“I was able to narrow down those issues and get these Marines paid in a lot of cases,” Mattox said. “Sometimes, since a lot of the reservists were pilots, I was charged with setting them up in hotels and processing their per diem and bring the logistics together.

“Officers who were aviators found favor in me, and that was a big part of my life. That was the first time I was adding direct value to something and I felt the appreciation. It propelled me to want to do better.”

He even considered making a career out of the Marines, which is where he also discovered his love for technology.

“I’ve always been somewhat technically inclined,” Mattox continued. “It was in the early 1990s when the dot-com era was at its peak. There was a lot of technology around me.

“As much as I was adding value with my job, I also thought, ‘This is really interesting and I want to get into this.'”

He used the knowledge of computers he learned to get into computers and the information technology field and become a computer consultant in the civilian world.

Today, he has worked in information technology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus for the past 21 years.

Mattox also serves as chairman of the board for the Underground Railroad Museum in Belmont County, which was started by his parents John and Rosalind Mattox.

He attributes both the technology and leadership skills he has to the Marines.

“I’ve always liked being outside and shooting rifles, and stuff like that was fun,” Mattox said. “I really just honed in on this is what I want to do. It gave me the leadership skills I need today, and that I’m still using today.”