Carson John Contreras, was born in Montclair, Ca on the night of December 8th  1998. When he was born he had a few complications that forced an extra weeks stay at Pomona Valley Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. From there he went on to lead a normal healthy childhood. First living in San Dimas, Ca and then shortly after a move to his childhood home in Glendora, Ca. This Glendora neighborhood was an amazing place for him to grow up. He lived on a fantastic street that had many of his boyhood friends. While living here he attended Willow Elementary school, were he had a close group of friends. They would all bounce from house to house terrorizing each other’s parents with their energy.  

 

   About the time Carson finished up Elementary school, his family made a move to Eastvale, Ca. (2007) Even though he lived a little farther away, he still wanted to stay close to his old friends, so he attended Royal Oak middle school in Covina, Ca. This is when one of the most important times of Carson’s young life occurred. While driving home one day, he saw the sign for Ralph Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) (2011), and he said I want to try that. This was a big step for kid that while fun and good spirited, he never showed an interest in sports prior to this.  

 

   Carson’s love affair with BJJ was kindled and was the driving force in his life for the next seven years. The teammates he met became family. They would eat together like a family, go on vacations together, and compete together. Carson was an active competitor, and participated in many tournaments. He even travelled as far as Guatemala, and Germany to compete. This truly was one of the happiest times of his life. One of the highlights for Carson was being an assistant coach for the kids program at Ralph Gracie. Just to give you an idea of how trustworthy and reliable Carson was the team gave him keys to the gym at 16 years old. He would be the first one there to open the doors, and often the last on mats cleaning at the end of the night.  

 

Around 2012 Carson’s family moved back to Glendora. This move brought him back closer to school, and the family business in San Dimas. He lived here and continued to train as much as possible. After middle school Carson decided that he wanted to attend Chino Hills high school. So the family moved to Chino Hills (2012) to be near the school and Ralph Gracie. It was important for him to attend Chino Hills, as many of his teammates that he trained with also went there. During this time Carson decide to take a break from going to school and started a virtual school program. He wanted to focus on his BJJ, and this allowed him the time necessary to teach, and train. It also allowed him the flexibility to travel to those tournaments in other countries. His parents fully supported his dream, and loved the passion he had for this sport. After returning to Chino Hills high school for his senior year, Carson decided to join the wrestling team. He worked very hard on the training for wrestling and tried to use some of his grappling experience from BJJ to get him through. He decided wrestling was not for him, and went back to focus on his BJJ again. Carson went on to Graduate from Chino Hills High School in 2017.  

 

   As you can tell Carson and his family moved around a bit. Around 2016 the Carson and his family moved again to Ontario, Ca.  He grew up in an automotive family, as they operated a family owned collision shop in San Dimas, vehicles were always important to them. With the logistical challenges of getting from San Dimas to Chino Hills to Ontario, when Carson was old enough to get his permit, he got his first motorcycle. He loved his Yamaha Tw200 so much and named it Chonky. Carson truly lived so much life already, but his next step would lead him into adult hood. 

 

   On January 25,2018 Carson left for United States Coast Guard (USCG) boot camp in Cape May, Nj. He would begin his eight transformation into a man just weeks after his 19th birthday. He graduated a member of class Romeo 195 on March 16th 2018. Carson’s first duty station with USCG was aboard the USCGC Hickory and buoy tender stationed in Homer, Ak. He spend the next two years living here and learning the ropes of the job as a non-rate. This job allowed his love for adventure to blossom. One of his funny stories was riding his bike to work on the spit and having to dodge Moose along the way. His comment to us “they are like cats out here”. He would get to enjoy the sites of the beautiful Alaska coastline as the Hickory would make it way toward the Bering sea helping keep the waters safe for the many fishermen and boaters in the area. After this stint in Alaska Carson was off to his next adventure.  

 

   In April 2020 Carson was off to Yorktown, Va for “A” school. He was heading to be a Gunners Mate. The love of guns was something he had since he was child. He would spend countless hours putting rounds down range at Burro shooting park in Azusa, Ca. Carson even spent some time working at this range, helping keep an eye on the firing line. When I say he loved guns, this is a bit of an understatement. Even as a kid, he would read about different brands, and calibers, peppering his dad with questions of what he thought and his favorites. He had legendary nerf gun battles with his friends. Carson always the Armorer would breakout his case of nerf guns whenever anyone came over, and the ensuing battle would kick off. After every battle was a reconnaissance mission to retrieve nerf bullets from every nook and cranny of the house. His time in “A” school was plagued by the Covid outbreak that was spreading around the world. He would have to spend lots of time in various forms of quarantine as fellow students showed any symptoms. After an extended stay in Yorktown, Carson was off to his next assignment.  

 

   In the summer of 2020 Carson was given orders to the USCGC Stone stationed in Charleston, Sc. The Stone was a newly commissioned Legend class cutter where he would serve as a GM3. Carson would spend a couple of years aboard the Stone and continue to learn and advance his skills. The Stone took Carson on many adventures around South America and the Caribbean. During his time aboard the Stone Carson made some lifelong friends and met someone who changed his life forever. 

 

   On May 5th, 2021, Gianna Knight, Carson’s future wife boarded the Stone as an EM3. Carson was so fortunate to meet the love of his life while on the Stone. He would spend a couple of years aboard the Stone, working on getting all of his certifications in order to advance up the ranks. The next stop for Carson and Gianna would be Suffolk, Va, where they purchased a house. On July 29th, 2022, Carson and Gianna were married in Virginia.  

 

   After they both moved on from the Stone, Carson and Gianna both received orders for Virgina. Gianna would be stationed at Portsmouth, and Carson would head to an MSRT unit in Virginia. This was a time for Carson and Gianna to grow together as a family, while she got to learn her job as an Electricians Mate, and Carson was working as an GM2 with the MSRT unit. This was a good time for Carson, he was close to home, he started a family with his love, and he got to work with guns. This unit brought him on some exciting adventures and allowed him to work with some amazing people. 

 

   Flash forward a couple of years Carson and Gianna are now both stationed in Portmouth, Va. They were fortunate enough to in the same unit together, drive to work together, and continue to grow their relationship. This was a good chance for Carson to work on advancing his career. The job allowed him time to study and work on getting to his next rank. After a couple of years in Portsmouth, Carson received his opportunity for promotion.  

 

   In September of 2025 Carson received the Rank of GM1. With this promotion came a move to the USCGC Reliance stationed in Pensacola, Fl. Carson was expecting to have gone under way in October, but the Reliance was in drydock in Virginia getting some much-needed repairs. The delays kept coming for completion of the repairs, but these delays allowed Carson to remain at home with Gianna. These delays carried them all the way past the holidays and into the New Year. The Reliance was finally ready to set sail in April 2026.  

 

   Carson joined his crew aboard the Reliance as the GM1 and was solely responsible for the ships Armory. He spent his time getting to know his new boat and getting the Armory up to expectations. Carson would try to get up to visit Gianna on the weekends when he could, and get a break from life on the boat. Carson would serve the rest of his duty with the Coast Guard aboard the Reliance.  

 

Carson John Contreras passed away on June 11th 2026 aboard the USCGC Reliance. 

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Written by: Jason Contreras (Carson's father)

 

Carson leaves behind his  

Wife Gianna Knight 

Parents Jason and Theresa Contreras 

Grandmother Erika Contreras 

Grandmother Geraldine Morosan 

Grandfather Louie Morosan 

Aunt Sara Morosan 

Aunt Jeanette Fiori 

Carson has many cousins and other family members and friends who are also heartbroken by his passing.