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It is late August, 2011, as I write this missive, but it is as though I am scribing it through a fog of the past, from 35 years ago.
Strange, I know. Though it’s difficult to accept, it was 35 years ago that I stepped off a bus at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, one unnoticed step for mankind, but one giant step for me. It was a step that changed my life and I’d like to spend a column or two … maybe more … recounting the experience.
Why? Well, I think it’s important because that type of service represents one of the few remaining rites of passage for young American men and women--the right to earn the title ”Marine.” Though much time has passed, the tradition is still the same as it was 236 years ago when the first Marine battalions were raised on November 10, 1775.