Jarhead, Gyrene, Devil Dog, Leatherneck...

And the list could go on in the different names people call Marines. All of these names and more are taught to new recruits as they make their transformation from civilian to Marine. In recruit training, great emphasis is placed on the history of the Marine Corps and all the battles we took place in and all the successes we had. Many times throughout history, famous people have spoken out about Marines and their exploits and traits. Here are a few:

There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Gen. William Thornson, U.S. Army

The safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines. Lord, how they could fight!
MGen. Frank E. Lowe, USA; Korea, 26 January 1952

Why in hell can't the Army do it if the Marines can. They are the same kind of men; why can't they be like Marines.
Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, USA; 12 February 1918

The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years.
James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy; 23 February 1945

The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!
Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, 1945

Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem.
Ronald Reagan, President of the United States; 1985

I think you probably get the picture now. Marines love themselves and are taught to be that way. And it was something I bought into and took in. But the biggest hing I remember was being taught that if a Marine needs something, other Marines will make sure he gets it. In boot camp, if someone was in need, we would open or footlockers and look for it, or go into our gear locker and see if we had it on a shelf. And all Marines, whether right or wrong, had the backing of other Marines, whether you knew them or not, because we were a Band of Brothers. You mess with one, you mess with us all. This became apparent to me one night on the town in Barstow, Ca. We had just had a Mess Night, a Marine ritual where we get together, eat, drink and share in the traditions we know as Marines. We went out in town afterward, and there were some Army guys from Fort Irwin in town. One came up to me, I was in uniform, looks at me and says, "What the fuck are you guys doing here? This is an Army bar!" I looked at him and laughed and said, "Dude, we are 5 minutes from here. You guys are 45 minutes. You tell me how that works?" Over my shoulder, my GySgt whispers, "Hey, I got your back...." I looked at him and said, "Hey, you're supposed to be talking me OUT of shit like this!" Nothing came of it, but it proved to me even more that marines take care of one another, right or wrong.

I don't believe that graduation day from boot camp, that day you "officially" become a Marine is the day you really know it. Yes, you get to wear the uniform and are part of the club, but you don't actually really feel it until later on. It took me three years before I looked in the mirror and really realized what I was a part of. And I loved it. I remember, shortly after being promoted to Lance Corporal, the Sergeants put me in charge of PT. It was supposed to be a learning experience for me, to actually do the drill movements required to form the Marines for PT, to give the right commands at the right time, etc. I nailed it. Everyone was pretty impressed by it and I got many compliments. Made me feel good, like I had really accomplished something. Something I never got out of High School or anything I really did up to that point.

I had really great mentors at my first duty station. Young or old, they all seemed to take me under their wing and teach me the ins and outs of daily life as a Marine. Some brought me into their homes and fed my family on holidays, others just by their sheer presence commanded respect and admiration from the Marines. Even when I screwed up, there was someone there to help me lick my wounds and tell me what I needed to do to recover from it and move on in life. GySgt Hunsinger, who later went on to become a SgtMaj, gave me the best advice that I never forgot. I had screwed up and had to go see the Battalion SgtMaj. He told me to find a spot on the wall and stare at it while I took my ass chewing. Man, did I EVER get my ass reamed that day. Afterward, he put his arm around my shoulder and said, "If it ever comes down to getting an ass chewing or having paperwork go in your record, take the ass chewing. Ass grows back!" Words to live by!

GySgt Eshom was another role model for me. He had been a DI and I admired that from the start, but as I got to know him, I respected him for way more than that. He took me under his wing and taught me so much more than anyone had. And he did it willingly, not because he had to. One day, he was joking with me and threw a dry sponge at me from across the room. His way of keeping it light because we were about to undergo Field Day. Field Days sucked, because we took everything out of our offices every Thursday and cleaned from top to bottom. That way, Friday we would get inspected and could go on with the weekend and come back to a clean office space Monday. Well, after he hucked the sponge at me, which was still dehydrated, he yelled my name. I looked and as I turned, the sponge smacked me in the eyeball. My eye was open. It hurt so bad! I grabbed my face and yelled out. He came running to me and was apologizing the whole way. He walked me himself to our Navy Corpsman to get my eye looked at. After the doc looked at me and determined it was ok, he asked if I wanted to play a joke. I was hesitant but thought, what the hell, could be fun. So, we grabbed up the safety guy and had an incident report written up. Then, the doc wrapped my head up with gauze and said he was taking me to medical for further testing. When I walked out of doc's office, SSgt Eshom, who had recently been selected for GySgt, freaked out! He said, "WHAT'S WRONG!" Doc told him I probably had a scratched Cornea and needed further care. Well, Eshom said ok, headed back to our office and slammed the door! He then walked over to his desk and threw everything off of it to the floor and kicked his chair over! We went and I hid in another office for a while. I started to feel bad after that. Maybe it wasn't a good idea? In the meantime, doc went and informed our Captain what was going on. SSgt Eshom came out of his office and went to the Captain and closed the door. He began to spill his guts about what had happened and said that he would take whatever punishment fit and that he knew his selection to the next rank might be taken away. I started to feel REALLY awful after that. I don't quite remember how it came about, but he had done something to me earlier that week and said that I could pay him back. I was using this "injury" as a payback, but he had taken it too personal. When he came out of the Captains office,we were all sitting waiting, and I said, "Paybacks a bitch, huh boss?" He was LIVID! He looked at me and said, "That is FUCKED up!", and walked straight into our 1stSgt's office and slammed the door. We all looked at one another and didn't know what to say. The Captain came out and said he would be ok, but we thought differently. I think the 1stSgt pointed out to him that maybe he had become too close with me and the junior Marines, because from that day forward it was all business. He eventually lightened up, but it was a huge scare for him. I still feel bad to this day for putting him through it, but it was just good fun, or was meant to be. I still keep in touch with him to this day. Not as often as I should, but we talk.

After leaving the great leadership I had in California, I checked into Marine Wing Communications Squadron, 28 in Cherry Point, NC. I found out what it was like to have a boss NOT to emulate. GySgt Oglesby was his name. He was about 6'4" and was extremely overweight. Turns out he was on the ROAD; Retired On Active Duty. What that meant was he was just waiting for his retirement date to get here so he could punch his ticket out. This guy had very little leadership skills, if any, and the ones he may have had were in the form of intimidation. He had spent a lot of time out of our job specialty being a recruiter and such, and was not very confident in leading us and teaching us when we had questions about things. And the fact that he was overweight, we had to follow him during formation runs. Most of us were in decent shape, if not good or great shape, and all those runs just hurt. Not running to your potential can actually take a toll on your legs, so maybe I did learn something from him, but inadvertently. But it was not by a good example I learned. After he finally retired, I got another great leader in GySgt Pluchinsky. He had also been a DI and carried himself very well. He put up with no slack from anyone. After a few months of being there, I was a Corporal by this time, he had asked if I had ever thought of being a DI. I told him it was my main goal as a Marine. He took me under his wing and showed me what it was to be a Marine Sergeant, he knew our job and kept us on top of the game. Where we had failed in other inspections, he helped us pass. He MADE us pass. Marines don't fail, and he proved that to us through physical and mental leadership. I ran into him again in Okinawa. He was a 1stSgt by then and ready to retire, but he didn't rest on his ass. he was a Marine until the end. He went on to teach Junior ROTC and came to Parris Island while I was there working at the pool. It was good to see him still teaching the Marine Corps values to young people.

Tomorrow, I will get into working with Marine Corps Reserves. Not sure where I will begin with that one. Let's just say it was an eye opener.