YOUR OTHER LEFT...IDIOT!

What was so funny about boot camp? Nothing while you’re going through it. It’s only after that you remember situations in a different light. A wise Marine once said, “It’s impossible to see any humor in an ass kicking until the other guy stops kicking it.” Events in this book took place in the early 1950s, right after the Korean War. The Corps, in fact all the services, have no doubt changed since then but I think the aim of what has to be accomplished remains in tact. It is not my purpose to poke fun at the Marine Corps. On the contrary, I have nothing but admiration and loyalty toward the Corps and I believe in the adage, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” As far as the drill instructors go, most were top-notch professionals doing a job that needed to be done. One or two appeared to enjoy the bullying a little too much but they didn’t seem to last. I don’t know where they went but they were usually out of our hair within a couple of weeks. The simple truth is, there would be no Marine Corps without boot camp to teach the willy-nilly how to be Leathernecks. That said, I freely admit I still thrill when they play the Marine Corps Hymn. Even today it makes me stand just a wee bit taller.