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thedrifter
05-26-08, 07:56 AM
From Maroons to Marines
Elgin High School graduates gain new perspective in military
May 26, 2008

BY CHARITY BONNER Staff Writer

ELGIN -- Reasons range from athletic opportunities to financial stability to patriotism. Dreams run the gamut of becoming an animation artist to a police officer. But what they all have in common is their commitment to be a Marine.

Todd Stuart, a 2007 Elgin High School graduate, attended Carthage College in Wisconsin for a year but recently decided to join the Marines. Seven of his fellow classmates and friends also joined within the past year. Statistics collected by the Marine Corps Recruiting Station of Chicago report 226 men and women from Elgin area high schools joined the Marine Corps between October 2004 and September 2007.

Conrad Robson graduated in 2007 and is training on the north side of Oahu, Hawaii, to be a logistic embarkation specialist.

"I was looking for more," Robson said. "I wanted to be a part of something that really mattered. I didn't want to do something that everyone else was doing. I wanted to do something that mattered, that was important not only to myself but to people that have family members that have died in Iraq. I don't feel like my life is more important than someone else's. I feel like I should go out and do something for my country."

Robson said the experience has changed him.

"It has made me a better person and made me care about things," he said. "I grew up so fast. Now I act like an adult and have responsibilities. I am a Marine 24/7."

Bryce Williams, a 2007 graduate, enlisted in November and left for boot camp in January. He is in MOS (Military Occupational Specialties) training St. Robert, Mo.

After seeing several of his football buddies join, Williams felt ready to make a change.

"I was just tired of being the one that got to see everyone come back," he said.

Although it might mean a tour in Iraq, Williams says his decision to join is one of the best he has ever made.

"I am doing bigger and better things," he said. "I tell people what I have been doing, and the looks on their faces are priceless. I came back, and I am standing up straight and talking proper. It is a good change for me, and I like it."

He dreams of going to art school someday to get a degree in animation. He says he has learned discipline and maturity since joining.

"I feel like I can do anything now," he said. "Nothing can stand in my way now."

Although some recruits still are in training, some of them already have orders to go to war.

Fellow 2007 graduates Dan Bothwell and Shane Daly are leaving within the next couple of months -- Bothwell for Afghanistan and Daly for Iraq.

Daly, who is stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., says his family heritage has helped prepare him for his future -- both of his grandfathers were in the military, and his father was a Marine.

Justin Turner, who has been in the Marines for a year, says the experience has given him a different perspective.

"I have gotten the gentleman thing a lot," he said. "I have gotten a thank you for being polite and being the ultimate gentleman."

He plans to re-enlist and eventually go to the University of Illinois at Chicago to be a cook.

Turner says that he is asked frequently why he joined with a war going on.

"People ask why would I do this to myself with the war going on now, knowing that there is a 75 percent chance that we are not going to pull out of Iraq," he said. "They ask me, and I tell them I know the consequences of what I am getting into, but you have to realize maybe this is something I want to do and that I want to help out."

Ellie