The Valpo Core Reader
 

Authors

Ralph Chester

Document Type

Division and Classification Essay

Publication Date

1993

Excerpt

In a few short months, high schools all over the United States will be conducting commencement exercises for the class of 1993. Soon thereafter, thousands of young men and women will take a bold step forward and depart their hometown enroute to Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. Affectionately known by Marines as "the land that God forgot," it is here that these young men and women will subject themselves to the physical harshness and psychological discipline that transforms an ordinary citizen into a Marine. Many people wonder what makes these young people take that hard step forward and become a member of the world's premier force in readiness. I remember the day I told my friends and family that I was going to enlist. They told me I was crazy...but I wasn't. They predicted that I wouldn't complete recruit training...but I did. So what motivated me, and the thousands of Americans very much like me, to enlist in the first place?

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