Reluctant Jarhead: A Marine's Story

My experience in the Marine Corps wasn't a typical one. This is not a story of one engaged in combat, as I was fortunate to serve my four years between conflicts (1959-1963). However my experiences bear note as perhaps my perspective is different than that you might expect from a US Marine. I take you through Paris Island Boot Camp, infantry training in North Carolina, schooling in San Diego, and three years of special guard duty in Washington, DC (security guard for the presidential helicopters). I found I was often baffled by the regimens insisted upon in the Corps, but the experiences and the people I met and coexisted with were both memorable and worth recounting, I hope you find my story both humorous and slightly off center, not that it will be an incentive for military recruitment, especially in the Marines. I mean in no way to demean the contributions of the world's best fighting unit, I only present one person's experiences in an unusual outfit, in a peacetime situation, somewhat out of the mainstream of the Marine heritage. These four years are indelibly etched in my mind, some warmly remembered, others preferably forgotten. But they're all there, and I now give them to you. Suitable for mid teens to adult.