Correspondent photo / Tim Gleason Derick Young, a Marine Corps veteran, was the first director of the Mahoning County Veterans Honor Court and serves on the board of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission. He graduated from Warren G. Harding High School in 1998.

When Derick Young was honorably retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in April of 2012, his service to his country did not end.

Young, 45, is a native of Warren and is the director of the Mahoning County Veterans Honor Court. He is also one of five commissioners of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission.

“It keeps me busy,” Young said, “but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

After graduating from Warren G. Harding High School in 1998, Young enlisted in the Marines. He became a sergeant in 2004 while the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were escalating. A year later, in February 2005, Young and the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines were deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Young was an assistant mobile assault platoon commander in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq where he and four team members, riding in their Hummer, were wounded in a land mine strike. All five Marines were flown in a medevac helicopter to a U.S. field hospital, where Young was treated for head and back injuries, along with burns and lacerations.

“Being (flown by helicopter) was the scariest time of my life,” Young said. “I wasn’t scared for myself. I was the vehicle commander and my concern was for the others on my team. We didn’t know what hit us. Suddenly our Hummer was blown to pieces. It was surreal. Sometimes you can be so scared that you become calm, uncomfortably calm.”

The date was May 7, 2005 — Mothers Day — when Young’s mother, Marion, received a call from the Marines telling her that her son was in a hospital after being wounded in a land mine strike.

Despite the injuries, Young finished out his eight-month tour of duty in Iraq in October of 2005. Upon returning to the states, he remained in the Marines, achieving the rank of staff sergeant, until April of 2012, when he was honorably retired because of the continuing effects of his injuries.

“I would have been a career Marine,” Young said. “I fought to stay in the Marines, but they knew, and I knew, that I needed to move on. My injuries had taken their toll.”

Young retired from the Marines as a decorated veteran. In addition to a Purple Heart, Young received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Certificate of Commendation, Meritorious Mast and numerous unit and operational awards.

He returned to the Mahoning Valley and moved to Canfield. He attended Youngstown State University and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Science in 2012. Young then received a Master of Science degree in criminal justice in 2014 and later a Master of Social Work degree in 2022.

In 2015, Young combined his education with his military experience when then Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Christian asked him to craft a position to help veterans who commit low-level nonviolent felonies. Young was then appointed by Christian as the first director of the Mahoning County Veterans Honor Court in 2016. Judge Anthony D’Apolito now presides over the program.

“We help veterans who plead guilty to their charges by planning a custom intervention,” Young said. “These men and women experience mental health disorders, substance issues, anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and similar conditions.

“We hold what would be their ‘sentence’ in abeyance while they go through our program,” Young continued. “Once veterans successfully complete our program, we are able to dismiss the charges and expunge them from their record. At that point, the sentence is commuted.”

In July, Young was appointed as a commissioner for the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission by the common pleas judges in the county. The commission helps veterans acquire benefits from the county and Veterans Administration when they need financial assistance. Benefits include utility assistance, food, gas and gift cards and necessary attorney fees that veterans need.

“Each of the 88 counties in Ohio employs five commissioners to oversee this operation,” Young said. “It’s a great and necessary service for our veterans who need help getting back on their feet.”

The multi-faceted Young is also an adjunct professor of criminal justice at YSU.

“I love to help people and teach people,” Young said. “It became my calling after I retired from the Corps.”

Derick Young

AGE: 45

RESIDENCE: Canfield

SERVICE BRANCH: U.S. Marines

MILITARY HONORS: Purple Heart, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Certificate of Commendation, Meritorious Mast, Unit and Operational Awards

OCCUPATION: Director of Mahoning County Veterans Honor Court, Commissioner of Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, adjunct professor of criminal justice at Youngstown State University