Will May lives three miles west — exactly west — of where he grew up. He can tell you the precise direction without looking it up. That kind of orientation matters when you've spent years navigating by the stars.

A 2006 graduate of Newton Community High School, May left for Millikin University, where he played collegiate football and majored in exercise science. Injuries eventually cost him his scholarship. He came home, enrolled at Olney Central College to study criminal justice, and in November 2009, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He graduated boot camp at MCRD San Diego in January 2010, completed nine weeks of infantry training, and was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines — the most decorated unit in Marine Corps history.

His first deployment took him to Thailand for Operation Cobra Gold, a multinational combined-arms training exercise. From there, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit was still at sea when the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan. May spent more than sixty days off the Japanese coast participating in Operation Tomodachi — humanitarian aid and disaster relief, working eighteen-hour shifts with three-day turnarounds. The crew rotations existed because of radiation concerns from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facility. He worked the shifts anyway.

Afghanistan followed. Stationed in the Musa Qa'lah district of Helmand Province in 2012, May participated in Operations Jaws and Branding Iron — major combat operations in one of the war's most contested regions. By late fall, combat operations had wound down. As an infantryman, his job was essentially over.

The Marine Corps offered him a path forward — a MARSOC recruiter had come calling, a chance to join Marine Corps Special Operations Command. He thought about it. "I just felt like I was better served to come home." His grandfather was sick. He'd met the woman who would become his wife. That was enough.

Transitioning out wasn't clean. He used his GI Bill to earn certificates in welding, electrical distribution systems, and construction technology. He carpentered for four or five years. Nothing quite fit. Eventually, he found the Ding King Training Institute in Costa Mesa, California — a six-week, 160-hour immersion in paintless dent repair, master detailing, window tinting, wheel restoration, and ceramic coating application. He flew out there, spent the six weeks, and flew home a few days before Christmas 2023. He launched Stars and Stripes Auto Care at the start of 2024.

The name is deliberate. His Kevlar helmet and the plate carrier he wore in Afghanistan hang on the wall of his garage shop — a daily reminder of where the work ethic comes from. When he got his first car at fifteen, he washed and detailed it every Saturday. His buddies weren't allowed to eat in it. In the Marines, he always had the cleanest rifle in the company. "My attention to details, pretty up there," he says, with the particular understatement of someone for whom this is just a fact about himself.

Today, he offers detailing, ceramic coatings, window tinting, and paint correction from his home shop near Newton, serving Jasper County and beyond. When he applies ceramic coating, he means the whole vehicle — glass, plastic trim, grill inserts, paint, everything except tires and rubber seals. Not just the paint, but the way many shops do it. Seven-year product. Self-healing. Hydrophobic. He loves it so much that he tells customers he'd ceramic coat his kids if he could.

"What sets me apart is my quality, not my quantity," he said. "I don't really do it for the money. It's something I truly enjoy, and if it's helping people out — that's what it's about."

This May 20th, he will mark one year sober. Last summer, he spent six weeks at Warrior's Heart in Bandera, Texas, a dual-diagnosis facility for veterans working through PTSD and addiction. He flew down on the 19th and checked himself in. He has been running hard ever since. He started at 6 a.m. Bible study at Warrior's Heart — still going, Monday through Friday, with someone he met there. "5:30 to 6:30 is the most important part of my day," he told his wife.

His wife recently left her ten-year tenure in dental patient services to become the kindergarten teacher at St. Thomas School, a calling she felt and acted on. They're raising Millie, Owen, and Lincoln together — seven, four, and nineteen months.

When Will talks about Jasper County, his voice changes. "Community," he says first. The thousands of people who showed up to watch that Newton football team make a state championship run. The customers who choose to spend their disposable income at Stars and Stripes. "It's all dependent upon other people's expendable income," he said. "Not everybody has the luxury to have their vehicle detailed. I'm super blessed and fortunate to have the community support me in that."

He got teary-eyed saying it.

He's been around the world twice. He came back.