He says he was a "Bay Area stoner" as a young kid, but now he is a proud United States soldier in Afghanistan.
NBC Nightly News caught up with Staff Sgt. Nick Lewis recently while embedded with the military.
Lewis grew up in San Francisco. He says he lost his parents and grandparents by the time he was 18-years-old and that caused him to lose his way. He says boot camp turned him around.
Now Lewis, 32, is a married father of two young girls. He skypes with them every other night.
His story is part of an NBC series called far away from home which can be watched by clicking the image at the top of this article.
