Mark Richards had always dreamed of being in the military, but because he was already in a career, he figured he was too old to start.
Then Sept. 11 happened.
"That really just changed everything. All the excuses melted away, and I knew I had to serve my country," said the now-sergeant in the Arizona Army National Guard and research engineer at the Biodesign Institute's Center for Biosignatures Discovery Automation.
Watch his story here, part of ASU's Salute to Service.
See videos of the ASU community serving in other branches of the armed forces here.
More Science and technology

ASU students win big at homeland security design challenge
By Cynthia GerberArizona State University students took home five prizes — including two first-place victories — from this year’s Designing Actionable Solutions for a Secure Homeland student design…

Swarm science: Oral bacteria move in waves to spread and survive
Swarming behaviors appear everywhere in nature — from schools of fish darting in synchrony to locusts sweeping across landscapes in coordinated waves. On winter evenings, just before dusk, hundreds…

Stuck at the airport and we love it #not
Airports don’t bring out the best in people.Ten years ago, Ashwin Rajadesingan was traveling and had that thought. Today, he is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, but back…