John Sodaro

John is currently attending the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism where he is concentrating on Business/Economic reporting. He received his BA in English with a minor in Journalism from CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where in his final semester he interned as a reporter at The Crime Report.

Before college, John spent four years in the Marine Corps (1997-2001) and was stationed in Japan, Korea, and North Carolina. His last two years in the Marines, John played for the All-Marine Baseball team. After his contract was up, he became a New York City Police Officer (2002-2005) and patrolled the confines of the 70th precinct in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Watching the reporting of the Iraq War for two years humbled him and sparked his Marine Corps "Esprit de Corps." He resigned from his position in the NYPD and re-enlisted into the Marine Corps where he served as a TOW Gunner in a Combined Anti-Armor team for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. John's second tour of duty was in Western Al-Anbar, Iraq, where he served as a section leader.