Lexington County sheriff’s deputy helps an unsheltered teen find a new career
By Skylar Laird
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA
After Brian Gilbert graduated from Marine Corps basic training, he greeted the Lexington County deputy who had arrested him months earlier with a hug.
Deputy John Sanders booked Gilbert into the county’s detention center on charges of shoplifting from a grocery store deli before discovering the then-18-year-old high school senior was homeless and struggling to get food. Sanders, a U.S. Army Reserve member, thought a military enlistment could be the way to get Gilbert on a better path, he said in a news release commemorating Veterans Day.
During the 2020-2021 school year, nearly 12,000 public school students were homeless, according to the most recently reported data by the state Department of Education. About a quarter of those students were unsheltered, meaning they were living in parks, campgrounds or cars, according to the department.
Joining the military isn’t an option for all of them to escape homelessness, but it is one potential path, Sanders said.
Gilbert was one such case. He didn’t have a job. He rarely went to school. He was living in the woods behind a shopping center in the town of Gilbert. A military enlistment could help get him back on his feet, the deputy said.
“From my experience with the military, you’re fed, you get a place to sleep and you get paid for it,” Sanders said.
Sanders wasn’t sure whether Gilbert would want to join, but when he mentioned the Marines to the teen, Gilbert agreed to meet with a recruiter.
So, after helping clear Gilbert’s shoplifting charges, Sanders called Sgt. Brent Latham, a Marine Corps recruiter.
“I at least wanted to give him a foot in the door and see if he ran with it,” Sanders said.
After meeting at a coffee shop, Latham brought Gilbert back to the office to talk about the teen’s goals. Gilbert didn’t know what he wanted to do, he told the recruiter.
But when Latham brought up the Marines, Gilbert was on board.
“I was like, ‘You know what, let’s just go for it,’” Gilbert said in a sheriff’s department video.
Gilbert passed the mental and physical exams required to enlist, and Latham signed him up for 13 weeks of basic training on Parris Island, where about half of all Marine Corps recruits train each year.
Sanders and Latham both came to see him graduate in May.
Gilbert “was grinning ear to ear,” Sanders said. He hugged Sanders and thanked him for his help. Latham, too, thanked Sanders for calling him.
“It took one phone call from a deputy to a Marine Corps recruiter to get someone from a terrible situation in the woods to where he’s at now, in a full career with a salary,” Latham said. “One phone call can absolutely make a difference.”
Latham was not surprised to see Gilbert succeed. After all, the teenager was bright and enthusiastic despite his difficult circumstances, Latham said.
“Brian was outgoing. Brian was smart. Brian wanted to succeed,” Latham said.
Gilbert, now a Marine Corps private, moved onto advanced engineering training at Camp Lejeune military base in North Carolina. He is learning to be a utilities systems technician, a job that involves installing and running utilities in the field, such as power generators, showers and air conditioners. He’s considering pursuing a bachelor’s degree, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
“I mean, this is way better off than I thought I would be,” Gilbert said.
Skylar Laird covers the South Carolina Legislature and criminal justice issues. Originally from Missouri, she previously worked for The Post and Courier’s Columbia bureau. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
