THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022 Page 3 ~ THE ADVOCATE ASKS ~ Marine Veteran Brandon Montella talks about Mission Ready and why he is training to run 100 miles on Veterans Day to support his cause Editor’s Note: For this week’s interview, we sat down with Brandon Montella, a U. S. Marine veteran on a special mission he calls “Mission Ready.” It’s a nonprofit organization he created with a goal to provide military veterans and atrisk students who lack financial resources an opportunity to gain strength and a purpose in life through fi tness training at his Woburn gym, “The Way LLC.” Montella, 41, is training for what he regards as the biggest physical challenge of his life — a 100-mile run through fi ve area communities on Veterans Day (Nov. 11) to raise money for his nonprofi t cause. Montella was born in New Bedford and grew up in Central Maine as one of fi ve children. He describes himself as an “at-risk kid” who found himself mired in poverty in a world plagued and drug use that surrounded him. In the Marines, he said, he found strength and purpose in life while discovering a deep passion for physical fi tness and helping others. After four years in the Marines (1999-2003), he was honorably discharged as an E-5 sergeant. He was a machinist and was stationed at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va. In his further quest for strength and purpose in life, Montella got involved in the sport of boxing at the age of 31. He excelled as an amateur boxer, winning the New England Golden Gloves Championship in 2012 while fi ghting in the heavyweight division just nine months after his initial training. He fought 21 fi ghts as an amateur, winning 14 of his bouts. Three of his seven losses were to the best amateur fi ghter in the country. He went 9-0 as a professional boxer in the light heavyweight division, with eight knockouts. He was ranked 23rd in the country at the time of his retirement from boxing in 2017. Meanwhile, Montella has ADVOCATE | SEE PAGE 5 A PROUD SAUGUS FAMILY: Tonya and Brandon Montella with their son, Isaiah, 5. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate). FACING ANOTHER CHALLENGE: U. S. Marine veteran Brandon Montella in the backyard of his Walnut Street home in Saugus earlier this week as he headed out on a training run in preparation for the 100-mile run he plans to do on Veterans Day (Nov. 11) in an eff ort to raise $ 100,000 to support his cause — Mission Ready. He organized the nonprofi t organization to provide military veterans and at-risk students who lack fi nancial resources an opportunity to gain strength and a purpose in life through fi tness training at his Woburn gym, The Way LLC. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler). by drug abuse — he says his father was a drug addict. He is a 1998 graduate of Carrabec High School in North Anson, Maine. He said he joined the U. S. Marines soon after graduation to escape the abuse, alcoholism ADVOCATE | SEE PAGE 5
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