Looking back on time

Looking back on time

I was thinking about what makes me be the way I am, and I must thank/blame the great brain-washing I got at a little place called MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) at Parris Island, SC. No other experience in my life compares, I know that it sounds corny to a civilian, and to a marine I sound like a boot. But is true, I can pinpoint the exact moment when I think I became a man, the 53rd hour of the crucible, the last stretch of the last leg of the road march, behind me lay about 50 some miles of rucking, two meals and about 4 hours of sleep in the last 2 and a half days, underneath me were two blistered slabs of meat that used to be my feet, ahead of me lay three more miles, one more hour, I decided to grow some balls and keep moving, I had twisted my ankle two weeks before, and it hurt more than my feet, all I could feel is pain and hunger, but quiting was not an option, I was going to either finish this or die, and I wasn't going to die, even though it seemed tempting at the time. The thing is, I keep moving, and I finished.

The Marine Corps didn't promise to be nice to me, they showed me that life is a bitch and then you die. emphasis on the bitching part, but the worse the conditions got, the more we found humor in all of that. We laugh in the face of danger, that's how we deal with things. It is not sensical or logical but that's how we do it.

Different people react different to what they experience. I, learned to fight the good fight, I learned to push myself, others learn how to lead men, yet others learn how to milk the system to their advantage.

Some guys in the marines are completely insane, some are losers that can't hack it anywhere else, there aren't many of those, but there are some.

Some of the infantry man I served with were incredibly sharp, smart, idealist, loyal and strong.

Most are kids, kids with no clue about what they got into, (i fell in that category) but most marines I know are always moving forward, always in that 53rd hour, no matter what. I am proud of the marines today, proud to have met all of you, the good ones and the bad ones. I love you all. You tought me a lot.

Semper Fidelis

J.V.