McMINNVILLE, Ore. (KOIN) — You’ll often find Melissa and Faustino Alonzo leading the charge at Gunner CrossFit, batting medicine balls and barbells. The husband-and-wife teams owns and coaches at their McMinnville gym.
Not long ago they were leading a much different charge. They each served three tours in the Middle East, Melissa as a Navy emergency room specialist near the front lines and Faustino as a Marine Corps motor vehicle operator who often put his life on the line in recovery missions.
It was during one of those recovery missions in Afghanistan that Faustino’s life changed forever.
“I got called to go pick up one of the Jordanian generals because his vehicle and his convoy got ambushed in and we were on our way to go pick him up so they can continue on their mission,” he told KOIN 6 News. “One and only time that I picked up my helmet and buckled it in and hit the drive button. Within a few feet got blown up.”