25 years ago

[mrbsox]

... today. A quarter of a century, 2 and 1/2 decades...

I walked out of the door,
Weapons Co., 3/6 2nd MarDiv, Camp LeJeune, K street, @1030 hours (make that 10:30 AM (lol)) with DD214 in hand.

I had joined the 1stCivDiv. It was cool and overcast (like today).
25 years
3 kids
second wife
??? jobs
2 (house) fires

The question gets asked, do you miss the Corps??

At times, yes.

But, I would have never met my (current) wife, had kids (the baby is 17 now), or the fullness of life I feel, at times.
But, there is also a void, at times. When I read about another of our brothers giving his ALL in Iraq, there is a pain I cannot explain, a hole that will not fill.

But the Corps is ALWAYS in my mind these days.
God
Country
Corps

Add family and you can have a full, abundant life. Overflowing with love as well as heartache. But the Love makes living worth the heartache. I have come to see (most of) you as family over the years. I truly love my Brothers and Sisters, and have enjoyed sharing your heartaches here.

Thank you all for adding to my life.

SEMPER FIDELIS :marine:

Just rambling 25 years of memory into a few sentences.
Carry on !!

[thedrifter]

Always Nice to Walk down Memory Lane...


Thanks Terry

[Namvet67]

Yes the walk down memory lane is nice but a lot better if you have someone to tell the story to and would actually understand. Thanks to Leatherneck.com, we have plenty of qualified ears. mrbsox....I got the message in your post. Semper Fi

[LivinSoFree]

This is one of the reasons I'm so thankful to have a place like this. Here, I'm able to benefit from hundreds of years of combined experience, and it's helped me more than once already to make some tough calls, and I have a distinct feeling that it will continue to do so in the future.

Semper Fi

[yellowwing]

15 years ago for me, I was in my third month out of active duty. To tell you the truth it took me awhile to get the hang of things.

I was so used to the team work and outstanding leadership of the Corps, I had a chip on my shoulder when working with 'civilized' human beings. :)

It took awhile to get resumes and interviews for computer work, so I ended up flipping burgers at Hardee's for two weeks. Finally my manager asked me, "You really don't want to be here do you?" I said, "No! Not at all." I took off my gear and asked when I could pick up my last check.

Two days later I was working alone in the stock room of a small department store. A much better environment to decompress and aclimatize. I even got to seize a shoplifter once! That was kind of cool, but a terrified wiry little woman can put up one hell of a fight!

The good computer job, the soon to be ex-wife, and a terrific daughter finally came along.

Its hard to express how grateful I am to have the opportunity here at Leatherneck to reconnect and sometimes pass on our Legacy.

Semper Fidelis! :marine:

[DSchmitke]

It's been 18 yrs ago. And my wife tells me that I was brain washed and I should just grow up and let the Marine Corps go and get on with my life. Being a Marine is who Iam and I keep telling her to justl ive with it. Will not change my believes.

[A. Schwartz]

I left the Corps 1 Mar 1985 after 25+ years, since I went in 2 weeks after my 17th birthday I was not prepared for the civilian world. Marines have a sense of honor, civilians do not, Marines have pride and integrity many civilians I came in contact with never heard of either. I have met some fine individuis in civilian life, however, they are few and far between. My real education began the day I retired and I still have a difficult time adjusting to civilian thinking.

[TRLewis]

Civilians are crazy, two years with them is long enough for me. I went back. Don't know what I'm going to do after I retire, I hope by that age they'll keep me around to shuffle papers and forget about me letting me stay there as long as I want. Because I don't plan on unleashing the sexual harrassment/paperwork/working rules monster of the Federal government again. I did it once, I didnt like it.

[Sparrowhawk]

I never looked back, until I took inventory of my life and realized how much the Marine Corps had changed me.

Had contributed to my life, values, and discipline.

I am glad to have served and would stand by the side of any of our warriors today, not too sure about all that spit-n-polish, never did care for that part. LOL