Texas woman dealt with trauma as a Marine. Now her calling is to serve other veterans.

The theme of the ninth annual Ms. Veteran America Contest, to be held virtually on Oct. 11, is “The Woman Beyond the Uniform.”

Saginaw contestant Karalyn Martin is such a woman. While she wore the uniform of the Marines for more than five years, her service to others, in particular to other veterans, hasn’t stopped now that she’s in civilian attire and retired from the military.

She has devoted herself to a life of helping others, building from her own traumatic experiences before and even while being enlisted.

After serving her country in the Marines from 2007-12, earning the rank of Sergeant E-5, she now works with veterans in a variety of areas to better their lives, including suicide prevention, transitioning, dealing with Veterans Affairs, homelessness, financial strains, legal troubles, and more.

“I provide resources across the nation to any veterans that need help. I do this because I know how difficult and frustrating it is to transition, get through the system and get the help you need,” said Martin, who has been doing this for the past five years. “Once I got the help I needed I found helping others to be my calling.”

Martin, 31, said she knows what it’s like to cry for help, to hope someone is listening, and getting nothing in return but silence. She detailed several times in her life from childhood in Corsicana to adulthood in which she’s suffered a variety of abuses, including physical, emotional and sexual.

She also said that while her time in the Marines helped mold her into the person she is now, she even dealt with harassment and assault while serving.

“It never resolved itself. It haunted me the rest of my career,” she said of the 2011 assault and harassment. “I never let it stop me from being the best Marine I could. I earned every rank of promotion. I earned every maintenance license, award, and medal including my highest achievement which is a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for going above and beyond the call of duty expected of me while in Afghanistan.”

And she has battled post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It later taught me a special type of perspective,” she said of her time in the Marines.

Using that perspective, Martin has made it her mission in life to give veterans a sounding board, a person to whom they can turn when times are dark. She is a living example of how things can get better, how life doesn’t have to stay a certain way.

“I have never met anyone more devoted to military causes than Karalyn, particularly when it comes to female veteran homelessness,” said her friend and coworker John English. “Besides being a mother and working a full-time job, she spends most of her free time volunteering with veteran support organizations. That type of dedication deserves respect and admiration.”

Through it all, Martin sees her life as one big example of how getting through trials and tribulations can make life on the other side even more special. Not that she wants others to go through the same thing, but for those who do, she declares nothing is hopeless and sees herself as proof.

An honorably discharged veteran, Martin prides herself on her good health, high moral character, and being actively involved in her community, all of which qualified her to be in the competition. She is also a community supervision officer for Tarrant County. She specifically supervises those on probation who are on alcohol monitoring.

This is her first such contest. And while COVID-19 has forced it into a virtual setting, it is nonetheless an exciting time for her and her family.

“It has been far from easy as we are the first cohort to compete virtually. The collaboration of the contestants has brought us together,” she said. “It is such a great feeling to work amongst a tribe of women with the same dedication and heart.”

Martin has been married to her husband, Trevor, for eight years. He is also a Marine veteran who served 10 years. They have two children, Kalia, 5, and Gabriel, 4.

“They are my Irish twins. They are only 11 months apart. For two weeks each year they are the same age,” Martin said.

Along with hoping to be the next Ms. Veteran America, Martin plans to obtain her social work license, continue working as a probation officer and with veteran nonprofits.

“I never thought I would make it where I am today. I am very grateful to all of those in my life who have stood by me, believed in me, and never gave up on me,” she said.

“I have learned that family is not always connected by blood, and it is because of those family members that I am here today and able to fulfill what I believe to be my purpose in life, and that is to serve my fellow veterans.”