I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after not having done terribly well at North Carolina State University.  (You've just witnessed a massive understatement)  I've heard it said that you should join the military because it will make a man of you.  The Marines didn't make me into a man; they did make me into a much better man though. 

The Marine Corps really helped to drive home a lot of very important life lessons in a very short period of time.  Most of those lessons were learned during Boot Camp.  During my 4 years of active military service I learned the following key lessons I believe

1. Work hard, do your best and stay out of trouble and people will look out after you when it really matters
2. I much prefer to not be yelled out for messing something up
3. Yes you can
4. I'd rather be in charge and have the burden of responsibility then rely on someone else to make the right decisions
5. Don't duck responsibility when something goes wrong; instead, embrace your failure and learn a lesson from it
6. Don't walk on the grass
7. Excuses are explanations for having failed; excuses do not forgive the failure

Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC was something else.  If you've never been in the military, and especially if you've never gone to Marine Corps Boot Camp, there is no way you can understand fully what it was like.  The training day started at 5am and lasted until lights out at 9pm.  We trained every day, seven days a week, for 13 weeks (I think it was 13).  Sundays, we had 3-4 hours of highly supervised "free time" during which we were technically allowed to do whatever we wanted within the squad bay.  In practical terms, you spent those hours doing things like writing a letter or two home, squaring away your gear, Irish Pennating your uniforms, polishing your boots, studying for the next test, or simply using the bathroom.  (normally, you had scheduled bathroom breaks throughout the day, each lasting about 30 seconds)

Boot Camp Drill Instructors are a special breed of Marine.  They are obsessive-sadistic sons of a female dog.  I'm not kidding.  Most had to be trained to be that way; until Boot Camp I never experienced being completely at the mercy of someone who seemed to be both cruel and capricious. 

I guess another interesting thing about my career in the Marine Corps and experiences at Parris Island was the fact that it was my second time there.  My father was a career Marine having spent 26 years in uniform.  Early in his career, he got stationed at Parris Island.  I was born there on November 10th, 1961.  Coincidentally, November 10th is the most hallowed day in the entire Corps as it is the Marine Corps birthday.  I can remember when I would travel from one duty station to another and would be checking in at the various departments.  The Marines checking me in would ask me questions about where I was from, where I was born, when I was born, etc.  No one wanted to believe me.  Late in my 4th year in the Marines I actually had WM (woman marine) Sergeant call me the "anti-Christ of the Marine Corps"; I think she was kidding.

When people ask me what the Marine Corps was like I usually tell them it was like having a toothache for four years.  It was.

Sometimes I try to help people get a taste of what it was like to have been a Marine.  I tell them to go stand in a corner with your feet together at the heels and your nose almost touching the wall.  Just stand there without touching either wall, speaking, moving, or turning around.  I'll let you know when you can stop.

The following images represent some of the significant accomplishments I had during my four years.  I received promotions to the rank of Sergeant, a Good Conduct medal, a Meritorious Mast, and an Honorable Discharge.  (I had to "doctor" the documents to white out my SSN that is on them)