Son Is A Better Person Now, Thanks To Marine Corps

Last year, my 18-year-old son told me that instead of signing up for evening classes at Spokane Falls Community College, he had joined the Marines.

“You, a Marine?” I said. “You have a problem with me telling you to make your bed!”

He agreed, but he said he really didn’t know what he wanted to be, and that if worse came to worst, he would be out in four years with money toward education and the GI bill to fall back on.

I was stunned. He actually was making sense.

So off he went to boot camp. I had my doubts he would graduate, but Jack was up to the test.

I flew to San Diego, where I met other concerned parents whose sons also had joined up because they were uncertain where they were going and had taken a challenge to do something constructive.

Graduation, then, was an uplifting and affirming experience for parents as well as cadets, who really did stand a little taller in uniform. I turned into a 200-pound lump of tears, I was so proud.

Now, nine months later, Jack is doing great. He looks like a Greek god cut from stone, and a lot of opportunities, advancements and pay increases keep him on track.

Jack has a mission now. He is more considerate and polite, as well as more focused on his future. He accepts his life as his responsibility, and he has taken steps to make that experience positive.

Young people do have constructive options aside from college.

In contrast, the evils of urban life sometimes are overwhelming. And far too many times, the undirected life becomes one of reckless tragedy.

Jack, aware of the lure of the “party animal” within, could see the diverging paths ahead. He made a choice, and I believe he made the right one. He is light-years from the guy who left for boot camp.

And the Marines are doing something I never could - instilling a pride of ethics, both work and social, as well as a sense of direction and high moral standards.

I would like to give the Marines a medal myself. Jack is a better person for his experience, and he has not, as some presume, turned into a “robot killer.” He still is basically the same good guy, whose “party animal” has learned when and where and, thoughtfully, why and why not.

And in today’s crazy world, this is no small accomplishment.

ILLUSTRATION: Photo

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