From boys to Marines

[thedrifter]

: Sunday, October 19, 2008
From boys to Marines

Four Port Charlotte High School friends made it through boot camp together, where they earned their Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblems.

PORT CHARLOTTE -- While standing in the United States Marine Corps recruiting office at the Armed Forces Career Center with three of his comrades Wednesday, 19-year-old Stephen McIntyre pressed his hands on his slightly wrinkled dress shirt.

"I ironed it, I swear," said the newly named Marine as he checked-out his uniform. "The iron was hot, but it just didn't do anything. I had it on cotton, polyester, everything I could think of."

"So the iron was hot, but it didn't get any of your wrinkles out of your shirt?" laughed fellow Marine Jonathan Hays, 19.

"Yeah, so I threw it in the dryer," McIntyre said. "It didn't really work, though. It's not that bad, is it?"

At that point, the room erupted in laughter.

McIntyre just smiled and went about inspecting his uniform, as well as those worn by Hays and 18-year-olds David Saunders and Justin Motich.

By lunch time, the Marine quartet would be searching for new recruits at Port Charlotte High School - the young men's alma mater.

Two months after their May graduation, the four high school friends set out for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, S.C., where they all became members of Platoon 1075.

Throughout the 12-week process, the men were drilled on everything from military history and Marine Corps values to physical tests of agility, marksmanship and combat skills to mental tests of being able to handle everything thrown at them.

While the Pirates emerged from the 12-week bootcamp with their Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblems, the process was anything but easy.

"The first two weeks were hell," Hays said. "That's when you first get your drill instructors and you find out what it's all about, with the screaming and all of that. But after the first two weeks, things start calming down and you start getting used to the routine of them controlling your life."

Part of the adjustment was relying on help from one another.

This included making sure their counterparts had all of their equipment and uniforms, while helping one another avoid repeated trips to the "Quarter Deck," where they would do crunches, push ups and A-frames until they couldn't move.

Because the rest of the platoon members didn't really know each other, McIntyre said the quartet had an advantage.

"Everyone didn't know each other so they didn't really talk, but we knew each other," he said. "It was easier for us to adapt and to talk-out our problems."

Saunders agreed.

"It's good knowing you aren't alone," he said.

This really helped the group survive bootcamp, said Motich, who was often referred to by his drill instructors as "Cupcake" and "Sweetheart."

While he said the drill sergeants' endless mind games made him angry, they did prepare him and his high school buddies for the Crucible.

The Crucible is a three-day field test meant to physically and mentally challenge the recruits with food and sleep deprivation as they overcome various obstacles. This required the men to travel 48 miles on foot, complete 29 problem-solving exercises, while eating only three ready-to-eat meals and getting eight hours of sleep.

While no words could describe what the four endured during the rite of passage, Motich said it was the completion of this final exam that stood out as his best day as a recruit. He said this is because the quartet passed the Crucible, earning them the right to shake hands with their drill sergeants when they received their Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblems -- the symbol of the Corps.

"We all cried," Motich said. "You are pretty much considered a Marine at that point and are treated like a human again."

Saunders agreed.

"At that moment, it showed that the past three months had paid off," he said. "It was very emotional."

Following their graduation on Oct. 10, Hays, McIntyre and Motich were ranked as privates, with Saunders taking on the private first class rank. On Monday, the new Marines will be reporting to Camp Geiger, which is part of the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune complex, for 29 days of infantry training.

They will then attend their assigned school for military occupational specialty training. Hays will be specializing in aviation mechanics, Saunders in motor transport, Motich in basic communications and McIntyre in construction utilities.

But for the rest of their leave time, the Marine-quartet would be spending much needed time with family and friends before making the trip to North Carolina.

However, the men would spend the rest of their Wednesday strolling the cafeteria and hallways of Port Charlotte High, looking to share their stories of surviving boot camp with their old friends.

"Doing this recruitment is going to give us a lot of confidence knowing that we did something with our lives in the past three months that changed our lives completely," Hays said. "It's pretty exciting."

E-mail: pstaik@sun-herald.com


By PAMELA STAIK

Staff Writer


Ellie

[FullMetalFuture]

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