I was in the drive-through line at Burger King, getting two grilled chicken sandwiches to bring home for lunch for Wanda and me. The voice on the speaker that took my order said, "That will be ten dollars and thirty seven cents. Please pay at window number one."
As I pulled up to window number one, a young man with a huge smile on his face said, "Were you a Marine? I am going to be one, I'm all signed up, and next year after graduation I'll be going to boot camp with my best friend." The kid must have seen my Semper Fi license plate on the front of my truck as I pulled up.
Well, I said, "Yes, I was in the Marines," and I asked if he really signed up already. He assured me all the paper work was finished, but because he was only a junior in high school he would have to wait until after graduation to actually start training. He then told me that the recruiter promised him and his best friend that if they signed up for the infantry, they could spend their time in the Marines together. He then shook my hand, thanked me for my service, and I drove away.
As I drove away, I thought back 40 years to the time that Nick Kane and I joined up in that Buddy Program the Marine Corps has to lure two instead of one into signing up. Nick and I did Boot Camp and Advanced Infantry Training together, and after that, he went to one duty station (Vietnam), and I headed to another, Memphis. I didn't get to Vietnam until months after Nick's tour there was over.
Young people today, like young people of decades ago when I was young fall for "The Few, The Proud, The Marines," or the John Wayne Hollywood movies like "The Sands of Iwo Jima", or Flying Leathernecks. The Marine Corps, like the Army, Navy, and Air Force spend millions, maybe billions on advertising to make young men and women believe everything Hollywood and their ads say about becoming a Marine, Sailor, Soldier, or Airman.
That kid was all signed up, so I didn't ask him what would happen if he or his buddy failed to make it through Boot Camp. I didn't ask him what he would think if his buddy lost his life or a limb or two. Also, I didn't tell him that there is nothing you can believe that any military recruiter tells you. They have quotas and get bonuses if they consistently exceed their quota. Also, recruitment duty is some of the best duty you can get in the military, and if you are good at recruitment, you can stay a recruiter for a long, long time.
It's hard at age sixteen to make a real informed decision about anything, and most especially something as life-changing as signing your life away to the Marines. Those Dress Blue uniforms with the red stripe down the leg and a bunch of shiny medals or pretty ribbons on their chest make the recruiter look like a walking, talking hero who wants to be your friend.
It works, I know. I was young and foolish at one time, too.
