According to Shane Logue, his time in the military is best described in baseball terms.

His first deployment was like T-ball -- "not too bad," he said. His second deployment was more "intense," an upgrade to high school baseball. And only seven months later, he suddenly made it to the pros. If his experience was a baseball game, he said, his third deployment felt like being next up to bat in the seventh game of the World Series.

T-ball

A native Pennsylvanian, Logue always wanted to join the military. As soon as he turned 18, he set out to do just that.

He enlisted with the U.S. National Guard and completed basic boot camp in the summer before his senior year. After graduating, he went onto advanced infantry training. He wanted to immediately begin active duty, but the Guard didn't offer it at that time. So he turned to the Marines.

"It was definitely the whole Marine image that got me," he said. "Your survivability isn't so much on you, but the people around you. I have been around Army infantry guys and sometimes it left me wholly unimpressed. It was a more driven personal choice."

He completed basic and advanced infantry training with the Marines and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in fall of 2003. One night, while preparing for bed in the barracks, he heard the words he was most anxious to hear. His duty sergeant entered the room and yelled, "Recall, recall we are going to Haiti in 72 hours!" Logue's unit was always prepared to leave within 48 hours to anywhere in the Western Hemisphere -- he had no choice but to be ready. He made a phone call to his family and left.

His company arrived in Haiti as part of Operation Secure Tomorrow. Violence had erupted in 2004 as civilian groups tried to overthrow President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had been accused of voting fraud and a host of human rights and corruption charges. But there was little fighting and even less resistance when Logue arrived. His sole objective of maintaining the peace came easily. He didn't realize it then, but his deployment to Haiti had possibly saved his life.

High School Slugger

While Logue was in Haiti, other Marines invaded Fallujah, Iraq. Operation Phantom Fury sought to regain control of the city from Iraqi insurgents. Logue heard stories about Marines who left and never came back. It was only by chance, however, that he was spared the trip -- his prompt first deployment caused him to miss the voyage to Fallujah by one day. Had it not been for Haiti, he could have been in the area some Marines described as "terrible."

If there was anywhere in the world he knew he didn't want to be, it was Fallujah. Yet he didn't let that affect him as his commanding officer gave him the news he most dreaded to hear: He was going. What's worse, his unit didn't have detailed information about the area.

"There was nothing known about what was going on or how long it would last," he said. "Our intelligence going into Fallujah was we are going to Fallujah. That's it."

His unit arrived and relieved the acting unit. Surprisingly, the area was peaceful. Phantom Fury was a success. His unit patrolled the area outside of Abu Ghraib and didn't have major problems -- other than two roadside bombs.

In Fallujah, Logue experienced history. He worked with his company to arrange security for the first elections in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

"We set up the basic line system for the Iraqis to go through," he said. "A lot of what we did was security for engineers to bulldoze precautionary mounds for the people so they could stand in lines and not have to worry about getting shot. It was a really cool and amazing experience."

Heading to the majors

In March 2006, Logue prepared to go to Ramadi, Iraq. He had been to Iraq before, so he was more confident about this deployment. But Ramadi turned out to be his worst assignment yet.

"Ramadi was as heavy as you could get," he said. "The way we patrolled, the amount of security we had, the heavy machine guns. ... This wasn't Fallujah."

As the most senior mortar man in his company, his main job was to secure the government center.

"It was a tough job," he said. "There was a lot of responsibility on me. Once you let go of those mortar rounds, they don't come back. I am launching into buildings that have Marines stationed all around. These guys don't just come out from alleys, attack and stay there. They go back into the buildings. Every time I let a mortar round loose, if it goes short you can't just go, 'Oh wait, hold on.' "

But it wasn't all good news for the Marine. His battalion lost 18 people in Ramadi and five in Fallujah.

"When somebody dies, it really strikes you close," he said. "It's something that most people don't understand. Everybody in the military always has that one guy who is like their brother. At first it strikes you, like, 'Oh my God, that person died' -- but then you're like, 'Oh my God, Carlisle,' or whoever is still alive, and Carlisle is like your brother. That makes it easier to carry on. Once somebody is gone, there's nothing you can do about that. But it's always the remaining parts that are tough to deal with."

Back to the dugout

After Ramadi, Logue had planned to remain active, but he soon realized he didn't want to still be fighting when he was "30-something." He decided to enroll at Penn State.

Now, he is a "young-looking" 25-year-old sophomore, majoring in international politics. He found school easy enough -- he wasn't getting shot at daily. But he found it hard to relate to his younger classmates.

"It was tough to find common ground," he said. "It's getting better as I go along. Most freshmen and sophomores are getting away from mom and dad for the first time. I've been away for a while now."

In school, he learned how to deal with the people who express their opinions when they find out he's a veteran.

"I always explain that so many veterans' experiences are dictated by when and where they were at," he said. "Fallujah was a great deployment. I left there and I felt like I accomplished a lot. Ramadi, not so much. But I can't just skew the whole experience, like 'Oh, it was terrible' because of one bad experience. I had a wonderful time. So I always explain that to people who are like, 'Oh, I'm against the war.' I'm like, 'Fine, you are entitled to your own opinion, but I tell you this ... ' -- and whatever their opinion is after that, that's up to them."