European Duty Over, Principal Returns to School

After completing an eight-month stint at the U.S. European Command Headquarters in Germany, Marine Col. Lawrence Gonzales has returned to a different type of active duty--as the principal of Pacoima Elementary School.

“Sometimes you have to go away to appreciate what you’ve got,” said Gonzales, who was clearly moved by a special assembly welcoming him home. “We’ve got the loveliest kids in the district here. They really inspire me to do my job.”

An officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Gonzales was called to duty last year as part of the Bosnia peacekeeping mission. Gonzales also served in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War.

“We went over there to stop the killing, and that’s what we did,” he told the school assembly Monday. “We provided hope where there was no hope only two years ago.”