Why there are no EX Marines

Today I recieved and email from a member of the Platoon 3002, A Major Jim Laney, that I and he and 73 others were a part of in Marine Corps Boot Camp in the summer of 56...The pic to the right was taken without my knowledge but is me getting personal attention on become a good accurate rifleman.

I know this is a change up from farming and family and corn and beans...it was not planned but when these emails arrive it is so easy to drop back into the mode of being and so dam proud of the title United States Marine....

So I will post the email below that explains pretty well as I have ever read why we are such a brotherhood and there are no ex marines ever...well maybe Lee Harvey Oswalt the misguided bastard that shot Pres. Kennedy but not others...Also maybe you were with me when I posted my personal boot camp story on Feb 17th of this year when I first began this blog...if not and you want to read my humorus but true account of how it all happened it is within this blog...Just pan down to the archives at the bottoma and click on the February stories...then pan down to Feb 17th....The story just above it that I posted called a Marine's Marine is also a good read and describes the guy that will be speaking at the Dayton Church next month on the 17th and 18th...

But for now here is the email that got my Marine blood cooking this morning....

> This may help you explain what we share that is so special and what
we have lived that makes us remember. To understand, you have to live our
experience, share what we have all shared, and feel what we have all felt.
It is about Corps values, and honor. It is about character. It is about a
shared experience that changed our lives.
>
> The common experience starts with DISORIENTATION. The Corps creates
a vacuum in your life, it takes away your hair, clothes, and friends, and
fills it with a drill instructor. He says things like get off MY bus ... Do
it NOW and as you stand asshole to belly-button on the yellow footprints,
your identi ty disappears. The D.I. Gives you a short lesson on the UCMJ,
and you learn that rights belong to the institution, not to the individual.
>
> You will live in a squad bay and you will march everywhere. He
speaks to you in the future imperative ... He says: YOU WILL ... And you
do! He gives you a new language ... Deck, hatch, head. It is a language
that is steeped in a tradition you don't understand yet. He takes away your
right to speak in the first person, and he takes away your first name. Your
platoon number is what's important now.
>
> Before your first meal you get 20 seconds to stow your gear, and you
learn that the only way to get it done within the time limit is to help one
another... The TRANSFORMATION begins. This is the culture of the Group, and
its members are anonymous.
>
> Although you don't know it, your drill instructor will become the
most important person you will ever meet, and your weeks of boot camp will
become the defining cultural experience of your life. For the first time in
your life you encounter absolute standards of right and wrong, success and
failure. When you screw up, everyone stops, and they penalize you,
immediately, so you won't forget.
>
> Disorientation and Transformation are followed by TRAINING.
>
> The rules are simple:
>
> a. Tell the truth
> B. Always do your best no matter how trivial the task
> C. Choose the difficult right over the easy wrong
> D. Don't whine or make excuses
> E. Judge others by their actions
>
> And above all,
>
> a. Look out for the group, before you look out for yourself. During
your training you are pushed beyond your limits, and you achieve. You learn
to make excellence a habit. The common denominator among you and your fellow
recruits is pride and accomplishment. Through your training you develop
spirit, and you develop self-discipline.
>
> You learn the ingredients of CHARACTER: Integrity, Selflessness, and
Moral Courage. And you learn the Corps Values of Honor, Courage, and
Commitment.
>
> These are your roots. The Corps is a rigid code that will stay with
you forever. It will define your character, and it will guide you for the
rest of your life. This is why there are no EX-Marines.
>
> Once you can appreciate what you are about to become, you learn
about those who have gone before you. You study our history, and learn the
lessons of countless heroes who acted, not for self, but for comrade, Corps,
and Country. Marines are about taking care of each other, always have been,
always will. It is our culture and it holds us together. As you learn the
history, you become part of the tradition. You have a new appreciation of
your God, your Country, and your Corps.
>
> One final element completes your training - you become a rifleman.
>
> The magnitude of what you have accomplished becomes apparent to you
at graduation, when you finally earn your title and are called Marine.
>
> What you know then, in your heart, but what you can't put into
words, is that there is something very special about this organization that
is unlike any other organization you ever have been a part of. What you
can't put into words, but what you know in your heart is that the essence of
the Marine Corps resides with the lowest in rank; The Marine is the Corps,
and the Corps is the Marine. ... Your uniform says it all. When someone
looks at you they don't see the name of your ship, a unit patch, or a branch
insignia ... What they see is a MARINE. That's all that counts! You are a
Marine! It is what matters to you, and it is what matters to every other
Marine. You know that you may never feel this important again, and you will
spend the rest of our life living the code, and holding on to the feeling
that every Marine is a rifleman, and that, the essence.
>
> But there is more to our story than our boot camp experience. There
is our experience of sacrifice and our participation in the history &
tradition of the Corps. We share stories and tell of the humor that got us
through the tough times, but we also have stories we keep to ourselves,
hiding the painful memories too personal to share.
>
> Shared experience and personal sacrifice are reasons the Marine
Corps is a Band of Brothers. It is the reason we celebrate today. The
feeling you have when you become a Marine lasts a lifetime. Whether you
serve 3 years, or 30, your experiences will never be forgotten. You will
never work as closely, or depend on others more, than you did in the Corps.
The Corps is your family, you can never leave, and you are always welcome
back. You are EXPECTED to come back!
>
> This shared experience, and personal sacrifice is our common bond.
It is why we love each other and our country so much, and why we cling to
our traditions. Our celebration preserves and honors the memory of all who
have gone before us and it is an example, and a standard, for all who
follow. In a time when there are so few proud and good examples to follow,
when so little seems to count, our views, our beliefs, our PRACTICE of our
tradition is, by others standards, EXTREME. We are perhaps all our country
has left to guarantee that the principles upon which this nation was founded
will survive.
>
> Many presidents, and congressmen, have tried to do away with the
Marine Corps, but we are still here. Why? The answer is simple - America
doesn't need a Marine Corps, America WANTS one! Marine, you are the reason
she feels that way. Remember that, and feel good about it.
>
> "It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate,
tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of
men."
>
> Semper Fidelis

and have a great Day after yet another rain makes grain rain last night...Jack