Why I joined the Corps

[Chali Jam]

I became a Marine, because my ex-fiance(an E-5 at the time) said that I would never make through boot camp, and if I did and he ever saw me in the fleet, he would kill me. I became a Marine, and he never killed me. And now, I know how to fix helicopters and kill with my bare hands (defend myself ; ).

[xero3g]

Citizenship, college money, money in my pocket, pride, honor. I've always wanted to be a pilot. Of course the other branches have them too, but why be half-assed about it?

[chris gervais]

I am very sorry I did not mean to upset or seem like I was beeing disrespectfull.

[usmcdvldg32]

I call this the 2 second decision that stayed with me the rest of my life haha. I was 11 years old at the time and driving in the car with my dad and best friend when I decided (at that time) I wanted to go to the Naval Academy. Now one thing you have to understand, my parents were totally against me joining the military they saw me as being a politician or ambassador or something like that (well...I guess you could say im sorta following that lol Marines are kinda ambassadors but im pretty sure not what my parents wanted lol) but being that i was only 11 they wrote it off. 5 years later they were correct, i decided that i didnt really want to go to the Naval Academy because I wasn't working for it. didn't care about school or any of that. So I thought bout politics and all that stuff, thought thats what i wanted to do. this was 10th grade and every month the recruiters (cept Marines) would come to my high school. But this day the Marines were there and me still wanting (even tho i wouldn't admit it then) to join the military would go and talk to all the recruiters, well i went and talked to the Marines and this is the conversation its the only one i remember from high school.
USMC~"have you ever thought of becoming a Marine?"
ME~"HE!! NO I COULDNT DO IT. I CAN'T EVEN DO ONE PUSHUP HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THROUGH BOOTCAMP???"
USMC~"Well the Marine Corps will help you with that"
End of conversation.
That was in 10th grade and I really didn't think i could do it, didn't even want to but it placed the seed inside my brain and i never really did get rid of it. so i graduated high school, went to my first yr at college in a community college and worked at a sailing center in MD during summer. Didn't really have a clue what i wanted to do with myself. i'd change my mind all the time but then i realized the ONLY thing that has been constant my whole life was my desire to join the military and so i looked into it. I grew up around the Navy so itd be sacriledge to even think about the Army and did NOT want to join the chair force ahem i meant the air force. So that left the Navy and the Marine Corps and idk the Marine Corps just seemed to fit, I loved everything about it and so I asked for more information and talked to my recruiter who I still speak to today and that was it for me. not so much for my parents it took until 2 days before I left for bootcamp for my parents to understand how long I've wanted to join the military. Yeah USMC only 6 months before i joined but military since i was 11. But now they couldn't be more proud of me. Now I'm in my first enlistment and i think i'll do 20. OOHRAH!!

"I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country”

[Ub3rmike]

Read too many books by Machiavelli and Robert Heinlein. Father was a commissioned officer in the Taiwanese Navy and Marines. Had a clear cut path to some fairly prestigious institutions of academic learning, and ultimately chose to join the Marines out of some strange outlandish sense of civic virtue and duty. High school proved to be one of the least mentally taxing and most intellectually insulting manifestations of academia and I figured that that going to a university wasn't going to prove to be anymore of an engaging experience.

I was intent on pursuing Army ROTC (thank God for the Marine recruiter intervention there) and then later thought about Platoon Leaders Class or Officer Candidacy Course, but figured that I might as well get in hooking and jabbing while I still have my youth.

But all gallant idealism aside, I never truly realized why I joined the Marines until I became one. I could've served my country in any other branch, or even in any other government sponsored capacity. Rather, it was to learn to respect and assimilate into a warrior culture and tradition which has lasted 233 years, and in doing so, transcend personal weakness in order to realize the utmost in human potential.

[TooTall8689]

I actually had no clue what I really wanted to do coming out of Highschool. My best friend and I were cluest at best. So then just driving one day we had this moment and decided to go to a recruiter. The only thing either of us really knew of the military was his brother-in-law who was a Navy Corpsman. So we went natually...to the Air Force and my friend joined them. I decided to wait and talked to the Army second...who was ran by civilian recruiters...one being former NAVY!! not even have served in the Army,....WTF. Then I got somehow turned on to the idea of the Marines. A friend I had lost touch with in my younger years brother had been a Marine. And I remember my friend talking about how his brothers bootcamp experience at Parris Island had been. How tough it was...a challenge. So I joined the Marines in 2005 and scooted of to bootcamp and took on the biggest challenge of my life. Now im an active Corporal with two Iraq tours under my belt, coming up on the end of my 1st enlistment....and we will just have to see what the future holds.

--I was the first Marine in my family. I set the bar. Now im marring into a Marine family with a SSGT brother-in-law. I never had a brother. So it fits to have my first be a Marine like myself. Of course, he was my brother before our new relation anyway. Semper Fi

[greenmarinepack]

i wanted to be like my father,and my mom's uncle chet. uncle chet served in ww2 on guadalcanal,he was wounded but returned to action,he died of cancer while i was doing my sevice.my father served during korea, he passed away 2 years ago.

[11101775]

I was on schedule not to graduate high school and wasn't sure what I was going to do afterwards. The Marine Corps recruiter phoned me and pestered me a bit, so oneday I decided I'd at least go hear him out. He showed me a video of cool things Marines get to do, and then I asked him if I would get to do those things. He said, "We don't guarantee you anything, but we try to make it happen if your test score and abilities match." I didn't know squat about the Marine Corps, just that its bootcamp was the toughest by far, and so I figured that if I get to pick which team I'm on, then I'm going to choose the best. The challenge scared me but I could never walk away from it.

It's still the best decision I've ever made.

[Lisa 23]

I joined the Marine Corps because when I was a kid and I saw my older brother in his uniform when he came home from Boot Camp, I just knew then that I wanted to be a Marine just like him. He was my idol growing up as a kid and is still my idol today! My brother had 17 years in the Marines and is a retired GySgt and was a Drill Instructor.
Although my Marine Corps career was a short one....a year and a half.....I enjoyed every moment of it, including Boot Camp. Yes, Boot Camp for WM's is very hard also, but I'm the type of person who doesn't mind getting dirty and not afraid to break a nail or work up a good sweat!
I broke my ankle when I was at Camp Kinser in Okinawa and had some problems from it.
I have no regrets about joining the Marine Corps.......but my only regret is that I didn't get to experience 20 years of Marine Corps life, and hopefully being a Drill Instructor also, just like my brother was.
Come 1 June, my nephew will be leaving for Boot Camp and carry on the tradition of Marines in the family, just like his Aunt & Uncle.

OOHRAH & SEMPER FI!!!

[Fievel]

I grew up in a military family. My great grandpa was Army in World War I (got hit by a train and died while on leave from what I hear), my grandpa was Army in World War II and Vietnam (I thought Korea, too, but I can't find anything on his DD214s that verifies that), one uncle was Army in Vietnam (still alive - very quiet), and another uncle was Marines in Vietnam (still alive - definitely anger management issues). Those are just the ones I know of. I knew I wanted to be a Marine since I saw Full Metal Jacket when I was about 5 (I think now days CPS would be on someone's ass in a heartbeat if they knew that had happened!).

When I was old enough to join, I went on delayed entry. I was young, cocky, told my friends I was joining to "go to war and kill someone" and that was that. I signed up for the 1800 field because I now wanted to drive a tank. I left for boot camp October 3, 2000, and now I can't imagine where I'd be without my beloved Marine Corps.

Didn't get my M1 Abrams like I had been hoping for, but I got an AAV. Kept me happy!

[SSgt McCord]

I was in the 6th Grade and had a family friend who joined the Marines and when he came home from bootcamp I was at the airport waiting to see him. He looked like a completly different person when he walked off that plane. I knew then that " I want to be a Marine".
In my senior year I was debating on going to college first and then the Marines or what. I went to college for two days and said, nope this is not for me.

I went to the Marine Recruiters office and he was interviewing someone. He said can I help you, I said yea "I want to be a Marine, how do I join?" He told me have a seat, and he will be with me in a few seconds. Two days later I was in the DEP, and 3 months later I was on a plane headed to MCRD SanDiego.


I got out in 2005 and tried college again, and did not like it. Went to work for the State Police and still dont like this job. Currently trying to get back in and WILL NOT LEAVE THIS TIME UNTIL THEY MAKE ME!!!!!!!!

[MichelleJoyce]

Currently trying to get back in and WILL NOT LEAVE THIS TIME UNTIL THEY MAKE ME!!!!!!!!

That seriously made my day haha!!!

It's so encouraging to hear stories like these that make me feel without a shadow of a doubt this is by far the best decision I could make for myself.

Hopefully soon I'll be able to post my story of why I joined.

[boomer56328]

Was tired of college, waking up early for classes, and having people tell me what to do.
I never claimed to be very smart!

[Warbyrd13]

I come from a small town and from Ohio and those people there beleived they were the center of the universe. Then I would have to remind them of reality and where they fit in the big picture. Sad thing is I had to remind them a couple other times after I was in the Marines. But that is a intersting story I might share later.

Any way I joined because I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to go over seas. I wanted to meet and new intersting people. I wanted to meet women that actualy came from a differant state if not country than me. And I got my wish. Only 2 people from my class actualy left to join the military.

I would say 10 out of the whole 45 people that graduated from my highschool actualy did anything with thier lives. And as far as I am concerned I am number 1 becuase I served this country as a Marine.

[William Hardy]

My story is simple. My Dad was in the Navy in WWII, and then in the Air Force until he retired. I lived mostly on AF bases, but also, as in Germany, in Army housing. I had been exposed to everything except the Corps. When I graduated I went to the MC recruiter and joined. No flag waiving, no stories about wanting to be the best, etc....Turned out to be a most excellent decision for the first hitch, but then I reenlisted...it took its toll on my marrage so I departed after 11 years to keep the family entact. The Corps was one of the best parts of my life.
Semper Fi