Michael Marotta
Executive Director – Virginia
Mike was born and raised in San Antonio Texas. He is no stranger to hard work and family. He was married at the young age of 19 years old to the love of his life Dawn Marotta. They have been happily married for 23 years and have two beautiful sons Nathaniel 22 and Peyton 12. Having a child and being married so young presented unique challenges to Mike and his wife. Mike became an employee for the City of San Antonio where he worked on a paving and over lay team reconstructing roads for the city.
During that time Mike attended San Antonio Colleges Regional Fire Academy where he earned his structural firefighting license and EMT-B license. After experiencing hiring challenges Mike quickly pivoted and joined the United States Air Force where he served as an air crew member, Loadmaster, on the military’s largest aircraft the C5-A. His years served took him to every continent in the world except Antarctica. His unit the 68th Airlift Squadron supported Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Mike received an honorable discharge. Serving being a foundational tenant forMike led him to his most recent but not final career. Mike served as a Police Officer for the San Antonio Police Department for almost 2 decades.
He served as patrol officer, downtown bike patrol officer, crisis negotiator, mental health officer and wellness program coordinator to name a few. Leaving his career in law enforcement was what he would describe as the hardest decision he has ever made.
My Why:
So that brings me to “My Why”. As a veteran law enforcement officer and veteran of the United States military, I had unique insights into the difficulties our protectors face every day. From mass casualty incidents to violent encounters, even peace keeping efforts, our Warriors must be able to navigate any situation in an instant all while maintaining a high level of professionalism. While to the outside world this seems reasonable, we, who have served, know the heavy price.
The price of broken marriages, the price of healthy family relationships, the price of suicide and the price of addiction. These are only a few of the realities our nation’s heroes are facing every single day. Fighting our battles overseas and in our communities only to come home and lose the battle of addiction. We as a healing community have moral responsibility to bring our heroes HOME.
We will fight when they cannot, and we will prevail. My commitment will not stop. We at Warriors Heart will show up every day with kind, caring, compassionate hearts. That is the standard and “My Why”.
