Juan Rivera II - Army,  Staff Sergeant ​

Juan was born in June 1967 in Manhattan, New York. His parents,  both from Puerto Rico decided to move back when Juan was 8 years old. At age 14 he met his beloved wife, Gloria at High School. They have been together since 1982 and got married in 1988. They have three beautiful children.

In 1989 Juan joined the Puerto Rico Police Bureau. Upon graduating, his first assignment was with the motorcycle unit. Three years later Juan was assigned to the Tactical Operations Unit. He served for five years and for his last two years he was assigned to the SWAT unit. 

In 1998 Juan decided to join the US Army to give his family a better quality of life. Juan was one of the first soldiers to go when the Iraq War began. His first deployment to Iraq lasted 18 months. Juan deployed three more times to Iraq, each for 12 months stints. Juan also served in South Korea on three deployments for 12 months each.  

Juan retired in August 2018 and is now trying to recover his life again. Due to his PTSD Juan struggles with his family and trying to find peace.  Juan is determined to heal and is actively working with good people who support his goal of creating a good life with his family and friends. 

Juan said, “I have a great wife who has been with me for 41 years and my beloved children and grandchildren. We are super close and all of them want the best for me and want me to return to being the playful father and husband that I was before serving in so many conflicts and wars for over 20 years.”

Juan has ridden motorcycles nearly his whole life.  He currently rides a Can Am Spyder and a Honda VTX1300.