Marine

I have mentioned something before, but never really explained it. I feel that I need to clarify it for myself, if not for everybody else.

~

I want to be a Marine. My ultimate reasonable goal is to fly aircraft as an Officer for the United States Marine Corps.

I am not at all one of those war junkies you see in the movies, and probably know from school. I am too intelligent for that. War is a terrible concept borne from the instability of human nature. It is an awful, primitive, destructive behavior. Anyone who gets pumped at action flicks and target shooting with .22s thinks they can be a great warrior, and they are wrong. You see what happens to them in the movies. Their eyes are eventually opened, permanently sobered from their intoxicated state of giddy, trigger-happy, senselessness.

No. I do not want to be a part of the armed forces to fire weapons, to take the lives of other people. I am too gentle a being. I do not want to continue the favorite, deadly pastime of the human race. I don't want to live the military lifestyle because I think it would be "cool." I do not want to sacrifice several years of my life so I can shove people around because I look official in a uniform. I do not want to scream orders and demean people.

I want to be a Marine because I want to participate in the ultimate public service. I want to help people, to rescue citizens of this great nation from their rooftops after a hurricane. I want to provide aid for people in need around the world. I want to be a leader, to lead good men and women to do good things. I want to be an example, a role model, a guiding hand.

I want to be a Marine because of my family. My grandfather served as a field surgeon in the U.S. Army on the torn battlefields of Germany, a brave and dangerous job for a Jewish man, escaped from the grasp of the Third Reich. My grandmother was a nurse in the Army, who attended to severely injured and dying soldiers on the home front. My other grandfather flew F4F Corsairs over Guadalcanal and later F6 Hellcats over Korea for the Marines. They contributed their part for this country, and I feel that it is necessary for me to do the same. Each generation must continue the tradition of service to the nation, and the world, to bind us together as one, strong people.

I want to be a Marine because I want respect. I want to be seen as an honorable person, one who is serious about setting goals, about putting others before self, about living a useful life as a decent human being. I want the Marine Corps to represent who I am, a model citizen, and I in turn can represent the values of the Corps.

But I am a Marine. In ink, I am a civilian by all means. I have not completed the rigorous physical, psychological, emotional reshaping and refinement of military training, Corps training in particular. I do not yet deserve the respect of donning the uniform of a hardened Marine. But being a Marine, however, is not about the uniform. It is not about the medals, the ranks, the details of military protocol. Those are all necessary for an organized military unit, but at the end of the day, that is not what military service is about. Being a Marine is something that lives within you. It is you. You hear them say "you don't understand." It is true that most people do not, and never will. I understand. It is about service, about values, and dedication to becoming the absolute best, polished, honorable, perseverant person that a human being can be. With respect to the United States Marines, I believe that I can grasp what being a Marine is about.

The Marine Corps is called a brotherhood. It is precisely that--a family. There is no closer bond between men than when they are charged with each other's protection, with each other's ultimate trust and respect. Friends come and go, and the best few remain. All Marines, however, share the common friendship of the corps, forever. And I wish to be a part of that fraternity.

Whether or not I will become a true Marine is a question that can only be answered by time. It depends on where my career path, my relationships, my life takes me. But it is something that runs through my blood with each breath, and will not cease until my final gasp, until I lie within a casket with no flag draped upon it. I can say that I believe a Marine lives within me, and that if I do not commit to serving in the United States Marine Corps, it is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I would like to become a U.S. Marine.

We will see.




Semper Fidelis,


Kevin L. Krakauer

Current Mood: Inspired

Listening To: "For You" by Johnny Cash & Dave Matthews Band