Julianne Sohn
U.S. Marine Corps, 2000-2003
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2004-2005, Operation New Dawn

Julianne Sohn
U.S. Marine Corps, 2000-2003
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2004-2005, Operation New Dawn

Julianne Sohn, the daughter of Korean immigrants, was supposed to go to law school. She instead joined the U.S. Marine Corps after a conversation with a Marine Corps officer candidate and because of her desire to help others. Her health-care-professional parents, who came to the U.S. for educational opportunities, instilled in Sohn and her brothers “a profound sense of duty and drive to help mankind.” At the end of her 2003 tour, she found herself faced with a decision, “Should I stay, or should I go? I loved the Marine Corps and working with my Marines. For me, it was a calling. You did it because something intangible calls you to service. And I felt it. But at the same time, I found that living under the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy forced me to sacrifice an open and honest life.” Sohn ended up leaving the Marine Corps and attending Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Not long after graduation, she found herself drawn back to the Marine Corps. She says, “I was a Marine. My friends were over there [Iraq] and it was my duty. I served on active duty as a solid public affairs officer.” Sohn returned to the service as the unit spokesperson for the Marine Corps’ 5th Civil Affairs Group escorting media embeds through Fallujah, Iraq. Captain Sohn left the Marine Corps Reserve in the fall of 2005.