thedrifter
05-25-07, 04:16 PM
May 25, 2007
Published Friday, May 25, 2007
The place that makes Marines
Don North
Times-News Columnist
If you are an observer of contemporary society who cringes at the sight of our shaggy-haired young men festooned with tattoos and body piercings, trousers that drag the ground and T-shirts the length of ball gowns, you can take heart.
They are not the sum of our youth. There is an available reserve of brave, chin-up, dedicated young Americans who have stepped forward in a way that brings to mind the courage of the Greatest Generation.
They are the men and women who have volunteered for military service. They can be found in the recruit training bases of all of the services. I happened to have found mine at Parris Island, S.C., the recruit-training depot of the United States Marine Corps.
My 22-year-old grandson, a trouble-free youngster who was headed nowhere selling designer coffee at a Starbucks, in 12 weeks has been transformed into a poster for Parris Island that validates the accuracy of its published slogan: "We Make Marines."
I don't know what the Marine Corps did with the other half of my grandson, who was soft as custard when he reported for training in January, but the half that remains is 6-foot-1, about 150 pounds of muscle and bone bursting with pride and enthusiasm in himself for making the grade in the country's toughest boot camp.
If you can imagine 400 young men marching in perfect unison, standing as still as concrete posts, saluting with machine precision and responding to commands instantly, you have an idea of what happens when Kilo Company takes to the parade ground.
Parris Island trains more than 9,000 new Marines a year, graduating as many as 400 every week or two. They spend three months running or marching in lock step. Free time is measured in hours and spent, usually, maintaining gear. There is no off-base liberty, no visitors, no cell phones, no smoking and no driving.
Training is divided into three stages identified by subtle changes in uniform that display a platoon's growing status. In the initial stage, for example, recruits wear their trousers unbloused (outside their boots). So they have a small sense of accomplishment when they are allowed to blouse. The ultimate uniform change comes at the end of training on the day before formal graduation when they are issued the Marine Corps eagle, globe and anchor emblem.
The emblem, which goes on the hat, announces their arrival as United States Marines. They can now call themselves Marines. It is the symbol they have dreamed about and worked to achieve. These traditions are burned into the consciousness of recruits all the way through the training. Once a Marine always a Marine, never leave a wounded or dead comrade on the battlefield, Semper Fidelis.
Marine boot camp is physically and mentally more challenging than the basic training of any other service. It is a methodical and time-tested process in which every hour of the day is designed for one purpose only -- to produce the highest quality trained Marine.
The training emphasizes core values of honor, courage and commitment, teaching high standards of personal conduct, dedication to the Corps and country, accountability and respect for others. More than the other services, Marines consider themselves bonded to the Corps as members of a proud family with a proud history.
It is the romantic history of the Marine Corps, the reputation of leathernecks as the first to land in wartime and, admittedly, the formal look and glamour of the dress uniform that seems to attract many recruits. They tend to join because they want to be Marines.
With the other services, the reasons for joining are more varied and practical. These services attract recruits with enlistment bonuses, college tuition and other enticements made necessary by the need to meet recruiting goals.
My grandson was not motivated to attend college. Because of the endless Iraq war, I would have preferred that he enter the Navy or Air Force, where he could get vocational training and three hots and a flop, as we used to say.
The Iraqi war has diminished enthusiasm for military service generally. Repeated deployments to a war zone to face an enemy that hides its identify and strikes without warning multiplies the danger. It is impossible to understand what motivates the volunteers who are willing to carry rifles in this war. Suffice it to say we are proud of their patriotism and wish them safe passage home.
Don North, a Times-News community columnist, lives in Hendersonville. His column appears on the fourth Friday of every month.
Ellie
Published Friday, May 25, 2007
The place that makes Marines
Don North
Times-News Columnist
If you are an observer of contemporary society who cringes at the sight of our shaggy-haired young men festooned with tattoos and body piercings, trousers that drag the ground and T-shirts the length of ball gowns, you can take heart.
They are not the sum of our youth. There is an available reserve of brave, chin-up, dedicated young Americans who have stepped forward in a way that brings to mind the courage of the Greatest Generation.
They are the men and women who have volunteered for military service. They can be found in the recruit training bases of all of the services. I happened to have found mine at Parris Island, S.C., the recruit-training depot of the United States Marine Corps.
My 22-year-old grandson, a trouble-free youngster who was headed nowhere selling designer coffee at a Starbucks, in 12 weeks has been transformed into a poster for Parris Island that validates the accuracy of its published slogan: "We Make Marines."
I don't know what the Marine Corps did with the other half of my grandson, who was soft as custard when he reported for training in January, but the half that remains is 6-foot-1, about 150 pounds of muscle and bone bursting with pride and enthusiasm in himself for making the grade in the country's toughest boot camp.
If you can imagine 400 young men marching in perfect unison, standing as still as concrete posts, saluting with machine precision and responding to commands instantly, you have an idea of what happens when Kilo Company takes to the parade ground.
Parris Island trains more than 9,000 new Marines a year, graduating as many as 400 every week or two. They spend three months running or marching in lock step. Free time is measured in hours and spent, usually, maintaining gear. There is no off-base liberty, no visitors, no cell phones, no smoking and no driving.
Training is divided into three stages identified by subtle changes in uniform that display a platoon's growing status. In the initial stage, for example, recruits wear their trousers unbloused (outside their boots). So they have a small sense of accomplishment when they are allowed to blouse. The ultimate uniform change comes at the end of training on the day before formal graduation when they are issued the Marine Corps eagle, globe and anchor emblem.
The emblem, which goes on the hat, announces their arrival as United States Marines. They can now call themselves Marines. It is the symbol they have dreamed about and worked to achieve. These traditions are burned into the consciousness of recruits all the way through the training. Once a Marine always a Marine, never leave a wounded or dead comrade on the battlefield, Semper Fidelis.
Marine boot camp is physically and mentally more challenging than the basic training of any other service. It is a methodical and time-tested process in which every hour of the day is designed for one purpose only -- to produce the highest quality trained Marine.
The training emphasizes core values of honor, courage and commitment, teaching high standards of personal conduct, dedication to the Corps and country, accountability and respect for others. More than the other services, Marines consider themselves bonded to the Corps as members of a proud family with a proud history.
It is the romantic history of the Marine Corps, the reputation of leathernecks as the first to land in wartime and, admittedly, the formal look and glamour of the dress uniform that seems to attract many recruits. They tend to join because they want to be Marines.
With the other services, the reasons for joining are more varied and practical. These services attract recruits with enlistment bonuses, college tuition and other enticements made necessary by the need to meet recruiting goals.
My grandson was not motivated to attend college. Because of the endless Iraq war, I would have preferred that he enter the Navy or Air Force, where he could get vocational training and three hots and a flop, as we used to say.
The Iraqi war has diminished enthusiasm for military service generally. Repeated deployments to a war zone to face an enemy that hides its identify and strikes without warning multiplies the danger. It is impossible to understand what motivates the volunteers who are willing to carry rifles in this war. Suffice it to say we are proud of their patriotism and wish them safe passage home.
Don North, a Times-News community columnist, lives in Hendersonville. His column appears on the fourth Friday of every month.
Ellie