What It Means to Be a Marine

There are many different cultures or social groups that have a language barrier whether that is because of religion, race, or social differences. These language barriers eventually will have to be overcome so that we can all communicate with each other. Out of these social groups, comes the greatest fighting force in the World, The Marine Corps. Marines have a very unique language dialog that has been preserved for hundreds of years Unfortunately, there comes a point in time when a Marine must transition out of the Marine Corps into the “Civilian World” (as we call it). Transitioning is a very exciting time for Marines but it also is very difficult time due to the strong language community that we belong to.

At times the language and environment was harsh but I came to the conclusion that I needed to take a step back and allow someone to help me progress myself as an adult. For me, graduating basic training was one of the proudest moments of my life and whenever I look back at that day, I know that if I hadn’t of been put through that stress, I wouldn’t have the skills I do today to deal with that. The military was a great thing for me to experience, and I will always be thankful for

I had the confidence to go the college but was not sure about my career goals. It was a tough choice because my parents had advanced degrees and expected me to pursue the same path. I promised them I would get a college degree and start taking classes once I completed my AIT. I left for Basic Combat Training at Ft. Leonardwood on November 12, 2012. During my time there, I was inspired to become a commissioned officer. Our Company XO, 1 Lt. Donaldson, told us an inspiring story about his experiences in the Army. He had defined himself as a “go getter”, taking advantage of the resources the Army had provided him. During his time as an enlisted soldier he had obtained two college degrees. He constantly strove to improve himself to be able to take on any task that he was confronted with. Through his story, I realized that education was not only the key to being successful as a civilian, but also as a soldier. I had graduated from basic training on February 7, 2013 and would soon set out for San Angelo, Texas to attend the 35 November course at Good Fellow

I awoke the following morning to shouts of “LIGHTS, LIGHTS, LIGHTS!” which meant get the hell out of bed as fast as you can and stand on line. As we stood waiting for our instructions from our drill instructors, we could all sense each others fear. For the next 13 weeks we would be told what to do how to think and when to breath. Not only was it physical but also psychological, we would be torn down and built in to the perfect Marine. After we were yelled at to get dressed in our camies, we marched down to the chow hall. I had maybe 2 minutes to scarf down my

So I ended up coming back home and once I made it back to Mississippi I had a lot of my old friends calling me to go and hangout, but I told them that I couldn’t because i knew what they were going to do and i told myself that I wouldn’t go back to that lifestyle because i had a whole life ahead of me to do whatever i wanted to do and that those things could wait until a later time. I knew that they were talking about me behind my back but i also knew that they were just going to bring me down in the end and keep me from succeeding in life. As i got ready to go to back to school so that could finish my senior year had complication getting enrolled in school. It took a total of four weeks and three days was beginning to lose hope of getting into school was about to just drop out and get my GED, but my grandmother was there for me and she told me just be patient and keep praying, that everything will be ok. I finally get enrolled into school and i talked to a Marines recruiter he asked me i was interested in joining the Marines and said that i didn’t know for sure so if that was the branch that wanted to go to because have a younger sister that still had to be there for. I looked at it as knew that was going to have to go across seas and fight, so that would mean that i wouldn’t be able

Military school wasn’t hard. You made your bed real neat, ran, screamed yes sir to anyone that gave you an order. Military school was an escape. It made everything easy. When my father left in my junior year due to substance abuse I made sure to do something that would make up for all the terrible things that he did to our family.The list just went on and on. Stealing from my mom, getting pregnant and then leaving her, being high when Ronnie was born, but the worst of all was when he overdosed and almost killed himself at my little sister’s 3rd birthday party. I could never forget the day. There was no amount of erasing that would do the trick. Him being put into the ambulance, my mother crying so hard she almost fainted. Ronnie grabbing onto

Jamie always measures her life by the weekends she spends in Washington. It’s the only way she knows how, it’s always been that way. The time she is spent away from Washington are, in their entirety, spent thinking about the next time she’ll be there again. It’s where her happiness is, it’s where her favorite childhood memories took place, and it’s where he is. This time, she was especially anxious, though.

As Mark Twain once explained, “A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” This sentiment was not one that I was not very familiar with before I went to boot camp. Like any young testosterone fueled eighteen year old male, I believed that, with some preparation, my, self perceived, athletic ability and wits would propel me to triumph over the challenges presented by boot camp .After all, I had never really experienced any kind of significant failure in my life: my football team won the league championship year after year, I passed all of my classes, I had lots of friends, and I had a happy home with two working parent’s life was good, it seemed everything was an immediate success. That is until I arrived at boot camp, where epic failure appeared to be the only means of success I was able to achieve. But, over time I learned my failures were not negative, they were, in fact, an invaluable step in the learning process that provided me with the necessary skills need to succeed.

All my life I was never pushed. I was never told I cannot quite quit; the only thing that kept me in anything was my own determination and my own self interest. Now I cannot back down. Now I have goal and challenges. I am excited to improve on my body and mind and a family to grow.

I was eighteen when I joined the National Guard Army and here began a new chapter in my life. My military occupational specialty (job) I chose was to be a combat engineer. From here they assign you to where you will be transferred with those of the same job. One of my first assignments was basic training which took about three months and another assignment a year later at advanced individual training (AIT). I felt depressed and nervous leaving my family and girlfriend behind twice, but the time went by smoothly with letters and phone calls it kept me going. Unfortunately, things turned around so quickly after my arrival from AIT I was told I was being deployed months after. The longest and toughest nine months I had to live with when leaving

I was eighteen and on June 18th when I signed my final paperwork, my contract and got sword in. I was full of emotions when I reported to Basic Combat Training (BCT). I was nervous because this gonna be my first time traveling without my family. I was anxious because I didn’t know what to expect. Even though my grandfather and uncles told me stories about how it was when they were in the military and how things changed threw the years, it didn’t make it any easier on my nerves. Through my nervousness and anxiety, I was feeling confident that I would complete BCT and make my family

The one thing I loved and wanted to do since I was a kid I couldn't do anymore. I had no direction, I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. I had a wife at the time that was a medic and her response to me was, " Quit feeling sorry for yourself, there's nothing wrong with you. You just want people to feel sorry for." At the time I believed it. Prior to getting out of active duty in 2005 I was diagnosed with PTSD. I had no idea what that was nor did I want to be labeled. I was given a follow up appointment to be seen again but I didn't show. I felt no one is going to want to hire me if I'm

When I got to basic training I saw things that you only see in those old military movies, everyone was either scared or ready for the training that we would soon receive. Me , however I was one of the ready ones that took it day by day and swore to never give up. I

So when I turned eighteen, I and some of my classmates flew to the neighboring island to see the United States Army Recruiter. My recruiter showed me a video of what an infantryman does and I was sold, then told him that this is the perfect job for me. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. It was hard for my parents to accept that I was joining the Army, especially my mom, all she could think of was that I was going to war and bad things could happen to me. She didn’t want me to experience that kind of life and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing one of her own children. So the day I flew off to basic I told my parents, “Everything will be fine trust me”. This was my first time leaving the islands and being away from my family for a good while. So myself and two of my buddies started basic training together, we stuck together as soon as we got to 30th AG. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into I have never seen so many different people in one area. I have never experienced being away on my own for the first time, I had no clue what was going on. I wanted to give up and quit, but I told myself no! I cannot go back home as a quitter, ever since then, my motivation that kept me going was my family and friends, I wanted them to be proud of who I’ve become. I graduated basic training February 2005

In my life, The call I got to adventure is to join the Marines. Ever since I was a kid, I would watch war movies and war documentaries. Everything about the Military fascinated me, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of it. I originally didn’t know which branch I wanted to join so I set forth to take on the most disciplined and challenging branch, the Marines. I went on and found out that the Marines has many benefits that will help me for the rest of my life which made me more intrigued. Joining the Marines is my call to adventure and I am ready to leave my known world to pursue that.