Dan_Mills
11-01-03, 06:17 AM
NEW VOICES
Proud to be a Marine
By David Scott Worswick Jr.
New Voices
November 1, 2003
Earlier this year, I served in Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment Marines Co. Now, duty calls again. I'll soon leave the country to support the war on terrorism, this time in Afghanistan, for six more months.
I've been in the Marines Corps for eight years. In the past year, I've spent all but three months apart from my wife and family in Orlando.
Imagine how I felt when I came home, and all I heard when I turned on the television is how much money sports players make. And they're crying because they make only $11 million a year. And actors and singers and famous people talk about their drug problems and their bankruptcies. They blame it on the pressure of celebrity, the grueling time they spend on the road.
I am not one of those people who believe that, because I am Marine and went to war, I am any better than anyone else or that I deserve something special. No, I don't deserve anything special.
I joined the Marines because I wanted to join. Not because I was made to. Not because of the money. Not because of the vacation time. Not because I would be popular.
I joined because I wanted to be a part of something that so many others have run away from. I joined for the experience. I went into the infantry for the pride and dedication to duty.
I'm 28, one of the oldest Marines in my unit. Three quarters of our battalion are 23 or younger; most are 18 to 20 years old. They are not asking for a huge signing bonus or to appear in commercials. They are asking for one thing: to better themselves and seek a higher discipline. That's all they want. Oh, some will tell you they joined to kill and fight. We'll all be put in that situation eventually, and they'll see just how hard it is to live up to that goal.
Famous people will always be role models, and Americans will always look up to them. It's great that we all want to be Michael Jordan. We all want to hit the winning home run in the ninth inning of the World Series. We all want to be like Justin Timberlake.
Few want to sacrifice. In the war on terror, no one asks to get his legs blown off. Or to get shot. Or to die in a helicopter accident.
The only people who suffer in the war on terror are the families, the wives, the children. And you rarely hear any of them complain. They lose their husbands or wives to a war, and they don't sit back and ask for millions of dollars. All they want is the safe return of their loved ones.
I feel sorry for Americans for whom money is everything. And if I had more of it, I would probably be a lot happier. But the greatest thing would be for Americans to understand that there is no price for death. There is no price for leaving your family.
There is pride, however. And pride will get you anything that money will. Maybe more.
David Scott Worswick Jr., 28, of Orlando is an infantry platoon sergeant in the Marines. He's a 1995 graduate of Winter Park High School.
Copyright © 2003, Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edpnewvoices01b110103nov01,1,4296761.story?coll=or l-opinion-headlines
Proud to be a Marine
By David Scott Worswick Jr.
New Voices
November 1, 2003
Earlier this year, I served in Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment Marines Co. Now, duty calls again. I'll soon leave the country to support the war on terrorism, this time in Afghanistan, for six more months.
I've been in the Marines Corps for eight years. In the past year, I've spent all but three months apart from my wife and family in Orlando.
Imagine how I felt when I came home, and all I heard when I turned on the television is how much money sports players make. And they're crying because they make only $11 million a year. And actors and singers and famous people talk about their drug problems and their bankruptcies. They blame it on the pressure of celebrity, the grueling time they spend on the road.
I am not one of those people who believe that, because I am Marine and went to war, I am any better than anyone else or that I deserve something special. No, I don't deserve anything special.
I joined the Marines because I wanted to join. Not because I was made to. Not because of the money. Not because of the vacation time. Not because I would be popular.
I joined because I wanted to be a part of something that so many others have run away from. I joined for the experience. I went into the infantry for the pride and dedication to duty.
I'm 28, one of the oldest Marines in my unit. Three quarters of our battalion are 23 or younger; most are 18 to 20 years old. They are not asking for a huge signing bonus or to appear in commercials. They are asking for one thing: to better themselves and seek a higher discipline. That's all they want. Oh, some will tell you they joined to kill and fight. We'll all be put in that situation eventually, and they'll see just how hard it is to live up to that goal.
Famous people will always be role models, and Americans will always look up to them. It's great that we all want to be Michael Jordan. We all want to hit the winning home run in the ninth inning of the World Series. We all want to be like Justin Timberlake.
Few want to sacrifice. In the war on terror, no one asks to get his legs blown off. Or to get shot. Or to die in a helicopter accident.
The only people who suffer in the war on terror are the families, the wives, the children. And you rarely hear any of them complain. They lose their husbands or wives to a war, and they don't sit back and ask for millions of dollars. All they want is the safe return of their loved ones.
I feel sorry for Americans for whom money is everything. And if I had more of it, I would probably be a lot happier. But the greatest thing would be for Americans to understand that there is no price for death. There is no price for leaving your family.
There is pride, however. And pride will get you anything that money will. Maybe more.
David Scott Worswick Jr., 28, of Orlando is an infantry platoon sergeant in the Marines. He's a 1995 graduate of Winter Park High School.
Copyright © 2003, Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edpnewvoices01b110103nov01,1,4296761.story?coll=or l-opinion-headlines