People have asked me over the years why I joined the Marine Corps instead of another branch of the military. An 18-Year-Old’s Decision That Changed Everything
🪖 Brothers In Arms • Field Notes from Those Who Served
The answer is pretty simple.
I was a terrible student in high school.
Not because I wasn’t smart. I was just bored to death. I did only enough to graduate and finished with the bare minimum credits required for a diploma. My grades weren’t good enough to get into college, and to be honest, I didn’t want to go. The last thing I wanted was more school.
I Wanted Adventure, Not Another Classroom
By then, two young men I knew from high school had already been killed in Vietnam. Every night the television news showed another report from a war that seemed to be growing bigger by the day.
Like a lot of young men my age, I was angry and I wanted to know what was really happening over there.
I loved rock n roll but I couldn’t see myself joining the ranks of anti-war protesters or the hippy movement.
I guess if someone were to use a current label on me for my attitude back then it would be Conservative.
Why the Marine Corps?
If I was going to serve, I wanted to serve with the best.
The Army never really appealed to me. I didn’t want to be just another “dogface.” I wanted the toughest training, the highest standards, and the greatest challenge I could find.
To me, that meant one thing.
The United States Marine Corps.
There was another reason.
My Uncle Jack had been a Marine during World War II. I looked up to him, and if the Marine Corps was good enough for Uncle Jack, it was good enough for me.
“If I was going to serve, I wanted to serve with the best.”
So, without telling my parents, I walked into the Marine Corps Recruiting Office in downtown St. Louis and enlisted.
The Marine Corps offered two-, three-, and four-year enlistments.
I didn’t hesitate.
I signed for four years.
If I was going to do it, I wanted the full experience.
Because I was already eighteen years old, I didn’t need my parents’ permission.
I enlisted in May 1968 under the 120-Day Delayed Entry Program, which meant I wouldn’t report to boot camp until September. That gave me one last summer as a civilian, working as a lifeguard at a country club swimming pool.
It was a great summer.
I had no idea how much my life was about to change.
My Parents Had Other Ideas
When I finally told my parents I’d enlisted, their reaction wasn’t what I expected.
They were furious.
My father, a World War II Navy veteran, looked at me and shouted,
“Don’t you know there’s a war going on, boys are being killed over there?”
I think, deep down, he was also disappointed that I hadn’t chosen the Navy, the branch in which he had proudly served and thinking it would be a hell of a lot safter than Marine infantry.
My mother simply shook her head.
To her, I was making the biggest mistake of my life.
Maybe she was just scared.
Looking back now, I can’t blame either of them.
Parents have a way of seeing dangers their children can’t.
The Yellow Footprints
On September 18, 1968, I climbed aboard a bus headed for the airport.
From there I flew to San Diego.
Another bus carried me through the gates of Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
A few minutes after midnight I found myself standing on a pair of painted yellow footprints.
Those yellow footprints marked the beginning of an education no civilian classroom could have given me. But as I would eventually discover, boot camp didn’t prepare me for Vietnam. The Marine Corps could teach me how to march, shoot, follow orders, and survive its demanding training. The realities of war would teach me lessons of an entirely different kind.
That was where my military adventure began.
Little did I know that those footprints would eventually lead me to Vietnam, a very different Marine Corps than the one I imagined, and experiences that would stay with me for the rest of my life.
At eighteen, I thought I was choosing a branch of service. I had no idea I was choosing the course of the rest of my life.
Your Turn
Every veteran has a story about why they joined the military. Some were drafted. Some wanted adventure. Others followed family traditions, needed a job, or simply wanted to prove something to themselves.
Veterans, what made you choose your particular branch of service? And looking back today, would you make the same decision again?
And for those who never served, did you ever consider joining the military? What influenced your decision?
Share your story in the comments. Every generation has its reasons, and I’d like to hear yours.
Continue Exploring
The decision to become a Marine was only the beginning. Here are more stories from my journey through the Corps.
Fort Benjamin Harrison DINFOS
My unexpected assignment to military journalism school and the events that changed the direction of my Marine Corps career.
Stand By to Stand By: Hurry Up and Wait
From boot camp onward, I learned that military life often meant rushing to get somewhere, only to stand around waiting for orders.
Boot Camp Legends
The unforgettable personalities, experiences, and lessons that made Marine Corps recruit training an adventure of its own.
Rank Over Right: The Marine Corps’ Quiet Purge
A look at military authority, leadership, and what happens when doing what’s right conflicts with the chain of command.
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🪖 Bunker Rule
Every veteran has a different reason for serving, and every branch of the military has its own traditions, challenges, and proud history.
Good-natured rivalry between the services is welcome here. Hell, Marines have been giving the Army, Navy, and Air Force a hard time for generations!
But here’s the rule: Respect the service, respect the veterans, and respect the choices people made. Disagree all you want, but leave the personal attacks, insults, and political mudslinging outside the bunker.
🪖 Bunker Notice
This article is a personal recollection of why I volunteered for the United States Marine Corps as an eighteen-year-old during the Vietnam War era.
It reflects the ambitions, attitudes, and limited understanding of a young man who wanted adventure, admired the Marines, and had no idea what military service would eventually demand of him.
These are my memories and opinions, written with the benefit of more than half a century of hindsight. Other veterans may remember the times differently, and their experiences deserve to be heard as well.