Travis and K-9 Sunny

My Name is Travis Wilken. I was born in Blaine, MN. I lived in Blaine till I was 13 and then moved to Andover,MN. I went to Andover High School and Graduated as Class of 2009. I joined the Marine Corps and immediately went to bootcamp half way through my senior year. When I completed bootcamp I came back and received my diploma. My occupation in The Marine Corps was a 3521 Automotive Maintenance Mechanic. I was stationed in Camp Pendleton, CA and was attached to 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division for the Term of my Enlistment. I got married when I was 18 to my wife Taylor. We had are first born son Weston in October 2011. In 2012 I was selected for a deployment. I was with 3rd AABN Echo Company and was attached to CLB-5. I served in Operation Enduring Freedom in the southern region of Helmand Providence. I was the Mechanic/ Assistant Wrecker Operator attached to the Quick Reaction Force for the southern region. We were sent out anytime a vehicle was downed in our territory. I performed many recoveries and repairs in Enemy Terrain. When I returned from Deployment, I had very little time left on my contract and was honorably Discharged in 2013. I immediately had issues trying to adapt to normal life and still struggle to let my guard down or relax. I moved our family back to Blaine, MN where we bought our first house. I was on roadside diesel mechanic from 2013-2014. I was having a hard time adapting to normal life and decided to start working in the Bakken Oil Field in North Dakota. I worked a rotational shift from 2014-2017 where I commuted back and forth. In that time frame we had our second son Hudson in May 2015. In 2017 my wife got placed in Minot, North Dakota for her internship when she completed her schooling for Ultrasound, so we quickly had to sell our house and move our family to Minot. We ended up buying a house with some land and became a small cattle operation as well. We had two more boys Damon in August 2019 and Grayson in Feb 2021 We lived there until 2023 when we decided to hang it up and move back home to Minnesota to be back with friends and family. We moved to Cambridge, MN where we currently reside. We had our 5th boy Ashton in July 2023. We are settled in and trying to make the best of each day.