...what the Marine Corps has done for me?
I was in the Marine Corps for six years, and I've been out for twelve. Despite the fact that I've been out of the Corps for twice as long as I was in, I am still living proof of the Marine Corps adage "Once a Marine, always a Marine." The Marine Corps is one of the greatest parts of who I am; the only thing that makes me more proud is fatherhood.
Most of what the Marine Corps instilled into me is intangible. It gave me discipline, perseverance, patriotism, maturity, judgment, decisiveness, integrity, dependability, initiative, loyalty... the list goes on and on. I've long believed – and have often said -- that if I hadn't joined the Marine Corps, I'd probably be dead or in jail.
Only another Marine truly understands the depth of these words. Friends you make in the Corps are friends for life, and being a Marine is truly being part of a brotherhood. I talk to some of my buddies quite a bit... some I haven't spoken to in over a decade. But they are all an indelible part of my past, and who I am today.
I've run into many current and former Marines since my enlistment ended, and it never fails... we have a bond that's as strong as the bond I have with my family (albeit in a completely different way). Every Marine, past, present and future, shares camaraderie, an Esprit de Corps that will never die.
Though I am no longer serving my beloved Corps, I am still -- and will continue to be -- proud to be a Marine.
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