"After 9/11, there was a glut of imported steel, and the domestic steel mills slowly started going out of business," he said. "Unfortunately, my dad's business was one of them."

Before he went out of business, McStay's dad tried to downsize so he wouldn't have to leave as many workers without jobs. This alternative presented an opportunity for McStay to follow his dream. Since McStay didn't have a family, unlike many of the people who worked for his father, he decided it was time to visit the recruiters. "I still had my childhood dream in the back of my head, and decided I was going to join the military and help save the jobs of the workers who have families," he said. "I walked into the recruiters at 34 and signed up for the infantry."

When McStay's father found out about his pending future in the infantry, he placed a call to the head of recruiting in Ohio to talk the Marines out of putting his son in the infantry. His father was successful in getting the recruiting command to change his McStay's assignment to the air wing.

From the time McStay enlisted in the Marines, until a few days before leaving for boot camp, his father didn't say a word to him. "Right before I left for boot camp, my dad went on a business trip," he said. "When I was dropping him off at the airport, he said we needed to talk." His father gave him some advice, based on his experience as a Marine, which would help him make it through the hard times. "He gave me a lot of really good advice that has helped me throughout my two and a half years in the Marines," said McStay.

Over the past two years, McStay said, his father has come full-circle and is now one of his biggest supporters. "Now my dad is very involved in everything I do in the Marines," he said. Knowing that the Marines isn't going to be a lifelong career, McStay has found the service to be a teacher of life for him in some ways. "By being able to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a Marine and serving my country, I have learned that life rarely turns out the way you expect," he said. "But at the same time, life will never give you more than you can handle.