thedrifter
02-15-06, 06:49 AM
5 Marines embark on new journey
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
By DANIELLE PAINE
dpaine@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - Five young men, standing on the cusp of the rest of their lives, all took different roads.
As each path ended, bringing each just short of his goal, one by one they assembled here to embark on a journey together. Although each was searching for something different, they found what they were looking for together in the U.S. Marine Corps.
And, now, recently they have returned home together to help other young men before leaving for job training.
"One Sunday, the chaplain told us that Marines are called by God," said Pvt. Eliezer Millan III, 22. "I believe that in life, everyone is destined to be something. I was destined to be a Marine."
Millan, a Springfield native, is the oldest of Platoon 1100, Charley Company, 1st Recruit Battalion. He exudes confidence but shares his military experience with the excitement of a boy just home from summer camp.
With thoughts of the Marine Corps always tucked in the back of his mind, Millan followed the advice of his family and headed to Texas Baptist College after graduating from the High School of Commerce in 2001.
For three years he attended class all day and stocked supermarket shelves at night to help bear some of his college costs. Millan chose missionary studies because, he said, he wanted to travel overseas, helping others and working for a cause in which he believed.
"So you can say I was kind of searching in life," Millan said. "I was going to school for something that I didn't want to do. I wanted to be a Marine."
Not long after leaving school, Millan found himself at Marine basic training in Parris Island, S.C.
The first palm tree Pvt. Kevin P. Gobielle Jr. had ever seen was on Parris Island.
At age 18, his Marine experience has been marked with firsts. A first plane ride, a first time out of New England and the first time Gobielle had ever left his family home for more than a few nights.
He was homesick, but almost everyone was, Gobeille recalled. Some cried about, he said, but he knew that he could handle it. After all, Gobielle had wanted to enlist since his freshman year at Minnechaug Regional High School.
He arrived at boot camp expecting the worst but learned that it wasn't as bad as he had anticipated. The first hurdle over, Gobielle has since left home again with this fellow Marines for their job training, the next step in their new lives.
But when he did finally return to his Wilbraham home, he caught up on the things he missed most - women, eating junk food and showering alone.
The Marines is a brotherhood, Gobielle explained, relating to a concept he can truly understand as the second youngest of five sons.
"They're my brothers," Gobeille said about the other four Springfield Marines. "Even if you hate them, when it comes down to it, they're your brothers and you can always count on them."
Family is also an important piece of Pvt. William R. McMillan's military life. Since graduating with his fellow recruits, he has become the fourth generation of his family's military heritage.
"It's pretty much in our blood to join," said the 19-year old Palmer native. "Even before I left, my dad was telling me how proud he was of me and that made me go down there wanting to get through it even more."
It was a long 13 weeks, he said about basic training, but they all made it out in one piece.
McMillan has subtly changed over the past few months. He stands straighter, dresses more neatly and carries himself in a proud and confident fashion.
"Even when you're not in uniform, people can tell that you're a Marine just by the way you act and how you carry yourself," McMillan said, sitting with a straight back in a crisp white uniform, his hat placed neatly in his lap.
Pfc. Joseph Gebo joined the Corps to change himself, his direction and his image.
"It feels really good to have that different perspective and to have people look at you in a different way," he said. "Before, I was just a punk kid from Wilbraham and now, there's definitely a lot more possibilities."
After graduating from Minnechaug, Gebo found his mechanical job to be a dead end. Now entering the second phase of his training, learning aviation radio repair, Gebo plans to make a career of the Marines.
"I doing something with my life that's not just working in a garage," he said. "I belong to something special that people respect."
Pvt. Benjamin Willis, also of Wilbraham, learned respect for others and respect for himself.
"I act differently now," he said. "I listen to people and I don't disrespect them like I did before."
Willis, unlike his fellow recruits, never planned on joining the military. When Gebo, a close friend, pitched the idea, Willis was unsure of where his life was going.
For him, the mental endurance that teaches reliability, responsibility and discipline was a far bigger feat than the physical trial of boot camp.
Basic training behind him, Willis has matured, leaving the attitude of a teenager behind for the demeanor of a Marine. Although he wasn't looking for anything specific from the experience, he has, like his four newfound brothers of the Marine Corps, arrived at a better place in his life with a world of possibilities for his future lying at his feet.
Ellie
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
By DANIELLE PAINE
dpaine@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - Five young men, standing on the cusp of the rest of their lives, all took different roads.
As each path ended, bringing each just short of his goal, one by one they assembled here to embark on a journey together. Although each was searching for something different, they found what they were looking for together in the U.S. Marine Corps.
And, now, recently they have returned home together to help other young men before leaving for job training.
"One Sunday, the chaplain told us that Marines are called by God," said Pvt. Eliezer Millan III, 22. "I believe that in life, everyone is destined to be something. I was destined to be a Marine."
Millan, a Springfield native, is the oldest of Platoon 1100, Charley Company, 1st Recruit Battalion. He exudes confidence but shares his military experience with the excitement of a boy just home from summer camp.
With thoughts of the Marine Corps always tucked in the back of his mind, Millan followed the advice of his family and headed to Texas Baptist College after graduating from the High School of Commerce in 2001.
For three years he attended class all day and stocked supermarket shelves at night to help bear some of his college costs. Millan chose missionary studies because, he said, he wanted to travel overseas, helping others and working for a cause in which he believed.
"So you can say I was kind of searching in life," Millan said. "I was going to school for something that I didn't want to do. I wanted to be a Marine."
Not long after leaving school, Millan found himself at Marine basic training in Parris Island, S.C.
The first palm tree Pvt. Kevin P. Gobielle Jr. had ever seen was on Parris Island.
At age 18, his Marine experience has been marked with firsts. A first plane ride, a first time out of New England and the first time Gobielle had ever left his family home for more than a few nights.
He was homesick, but almost everyone was, Gobeille recalled. Some cried about, he said, but he knew that he could handle it. After all, Gobielle had wanted to enlist since his freshman year at Minnechaug Regional High School.
He arrived at boot camp expecting the worst but learned that it wasn't as bad as he had anticipated. The first hurdle over, Gobielle has since left home again with this fellow Marines for their job training, the next step in their new lives.
But when he did finally return to his Wilbraham home, he caught up on the things he missed most - women, eating junk food and showering alone.
The Marines is a brotherhood, Gobielle explained, relating to a concept he can truly understand as the second youngest of five sons.
"They're my brothers," Gobeille said about the other four Springfield Marines. "Even if you hate them, when it comes down to it, they're your brothers and you can always count on them."
Family is also an important piece of Pvt. William R. McMillan's military life. Since graduating with his fellow recruits, he has become the fourth generation of his family's military heritage.
"It's pretty much in our blood to join," said the 19-year old Palmer native. "Even before I left, my dad was telling me how proud he was of me and that made me go down there wanting to get through it even more."
It was a long 13 weeks, he said about basic training, but they all made it out in one piece.
McMillan has subtly changed over the past few months. He stands straighter, dresses more neatly and carries himself in a proud and confident fashion.
"Even when you're not in uniform, people can tell that you're a Marine just by the way you act and how you carry yourself," McMillan said, sitting with a straight back in a crisp white uniform, his hat placed neatly in his lap.
Pfc. Joseph Gebo joined the Corps to change himself, his direction and his image.
"It feels really good to have that different perspective and to have people look at you in a different way," he said. "Before, I was just a punk kid from Wilbraham and now, there's definitely a lot more possibilities."
After graduating from Minnechaug, Gebo found his mechanical job to be a dead end. Now entering the second phase of his training, learning aviation radio repair, Gebo plans to make a career of the Marines.
"I doing something with my life that's not just working in a garage," he said. "I belong to something special that people respect."
Pvt. Benjamin Willis, also of Wilbraham, learned respect for others and respect for himself.
"I act differently now," he said. "I listen to people and I don't disrespect them like I did before."
Willis, unlike his fellow recruits, never planned on joining the military. When Gebo, a close friend, pitched the idea, Willis was unsure of where his life was going.
For him, the mental endurance that teaches reliability, responsibility and discipline was a far bigger feat than the physical trial of boot camp.
Basic training behind him, Willis has matured, leaving the attitude of a teenager behind for the demeanor of a Marine. Although he wasn't looking for anything specific from the experience, he has, like his four newfound brothers of the Marine Corps, arrived at a better place in his life with a world of possibilities for his future lying at his feet.
Ellie