Rob Eliason, who was a graduate of Strong Vincent High School, spent the first four years of serving his country in his favorite branch - the Marines.

"It's like the way they carry themselves," said Eliason. "They just have this presence."

A license tour of duty was far from over.

"After four years in the Marines, I got out," said Eliason. "I was out for two days, and I got in the Army Reserves because I couldn't get a job and then went back to college, used my GI Bill and got a commission. Then when I got deployed to Iraq for OIF one, for the invasion, I saw the paychecks were pretty nice. I'm coming back on active duty."

This father of seven and grandfather of three comes from a military family. His dad served in Vietnam and his grandfather in World War II.

"All my family have been in the Army, and my original plan was to go in the Army," said Eliason. "My dad wouldn't sign because of the Vietnam vet thing."

As a youngster, his life changed in Erie when he met the co-creator of American Gladiators Dan Carr at Erie's Lower East Side Gym.

"My mom kind of didn't want me going down there because they had a reputation," said Eliason. "Lower eastside guys had a big reputation. When I told her, I said, 'You know, Dan Carter told me, I can't go back on the gym if I drop out of high school, so I'm going to stay in high school.' She was kind of happy. She didn't complain about me going down there after that."

"I think the biggest thing I got out of there is he didn't treat me like I was a 12 year old kid," said Eliason. "He treated me like I was a friend, as a little brother and sometimes father figure."