Back in 2003, Gonzalo Duran had wrapped up wrestling practice at DeWitt Clinton High School when a military recruiter passed him by. The recruiter asked him a question: do you want to join the United States Marine Corps. (USMC)?

“I said, ‘okay,’” Duran says, recalling a critical point in his life that changed his trajectory.

Eight years later, after serving eight years in the USMC., rising to the rank of sergeant, and being one of the thousands of military troops deployed to fight in the Iraq War, Duran, now a military veteran, saw the need to do right by his fellow military veterans. But it’s not under the banner of patriotism, Duran notes, but doing “what I think is the right thing to do.”

So began Devil Dog USA, a nonprofit group Duran founded in 2011 to help with veteran-related causes by serving as a resource pipeline on benefits while also organizing monthly get-togethers that build upon military camaraderie. He’s created a network of employees and volunteers as far as Hawaii to help spread his message, with a shoestring budget. Still, Duran claims the nonprofit, a nickname the Germans used to describe U.S. Marines during the infamous Battle of Belleau Wood in France, has helped 5,000 people.

“The ones that I help are people who fall between the cracks,” Duran says. “The people that actually have gone to the [Veterans Administration], the Housing Department, the people that have gone to every resource and they have nothing left, then I come in and say, ‘I got you.’”

The group, one of the few active nonprofit groups for veterans in the Bronx, wasn’t formalized until 2012, when Duran’s endeavor became a full-time calling. Elevating his cause was learning a fellow veteran, Fordham University classmate, and group volunteer was homeless, just like Duran briefly was after leaving the service.

“My idea of becoming a doctor was thrown out the window,” Duran says, “and I jumped full throttle on this.”

Since then, he’s organized events that included a talk at Fordham University by retired United States Marine Corps. Colonel Oliver North, day trips golfing at Turtle Cove, scuba lessons, and a forum on domestic violence last month. On Nov. 5, Duran organized an awards presentation, with Devil Dog USA supporters, Joseph Rhonda, Debbie Powers, and Alfredo Castillo receiving distinctions.

Duran relishes in the work he does, chronicling it through an active Facebook page where he’s featured in photos at award recognition events, meeting with community stakeholders or just hugging folks he’s come across (Duran estimates that a hug will lower the chances of a veteran committing suicide). He’s still looking to attract Bronx legislators to his cause, hoping to set up satellite offices inside legislators’ offices. If it doesn’t work out, the father of two is perfectly fine with that.

“I’ve walked through the streets of the Bronx,” Duran says, “and I’ve walked through Iraq. I’m still here living, fighting the good fight.”