Commandant of the Marine Corps

brought on by being in a conflict zone and for that they will always be closer than those who have never been in a war. It was April 2009 when I shipped out to my first war, Operation Iraqi Freedom, I was eager to finally go do what I joined the Marines to do which was go to Iraq. Nearly 24 hours of flights and layovers later, I was there in the hot arid desert of Iraq on Camp Al Asad when it hit me. It was no longer a game at any point in time you can die or get seriously hurt. Weekly convoys…

Four years ago I was introduced and convinced to join a program called MCJROTC by my brother. MCJROTC (Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) is a program that is meant to teach and instill discipline, responsibility, and leadership traits in a student. I successfully joined this discourse community by showing the knowledge that I have obtained from the program, dealing with the emotions of my cadets (proper term for a student in the program), and achieving my credibility by ranking…

of the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is part of the United State’s military branch, and are known for their discipline, strength, and willpower. I interviewed one of my brother’s closest friend, Miguel. He’s a former Sergeant in the U.S. Marines, who explained what emotions and stress a U.S. Marine deals with on a daily basis. The question is, how exactly does a Marine cope with the stress and mixed emotions they receive on a daily basis? Through the eyes and experiences of an ex-Marine…

Carried Through the War An estimated one million American soldiers died in the Vietnam War. The war was brutal, and even though I have not experienced war directly, I can imagine a persistent death awaiting each and every individual on the battlefield. It is his short story “The Things They Carried”, by author and writer Tim O’ Brien, that I believe truly illustrates the hardships and death of the Vietnam War and how they affected soldiers physically, spiritually, and mentally. To begin with,…

intoxicated to sign the mandatory permission slip for the Marines in place of his father. His drill instructor, Pete Bonardi, was especially tough on him and had little faith in his abilities. In fact when they reunited in Parris Island years later, Pete admits that “[he] was sure [Art] would get killed” (291). Even from the get-go not few people believed in him and Art admits he was klutz. At first Art helped with the loading of ammunition onto Marine Corsairs, but after he accidentally…

Films about war have always caught my attention. American Sniper was no different. American Sniper is a film that was released in 2015, based on the book written by Chris Kyle. Chris Kyle is known as the most lethal sniper in American history. He was a United States Navy SEAL, joining the elite squad when he was 25 years old. By his own account, Chris Kyle says he killed 160 enemies while protecting our military men. His primary mission was to protect his comrades and he took his mission to…

matter how great or small, this change will happen in every person’s life at some point. For myself it was a series of events, centered around one particular concept. An event that changed my life was when my brother decided to become a United States Marine. This particular event inspired me because of how hard my brother had to work to get there. He called me in the afternoon during my sophomore year. He said, “So I’ve finally…

The Proud. The Marines” was printed on the front of a postcard in big, bold letters. It was nothing more than the junk mail that normally came for me, but I never received something so inspiring. I could see half the face of the young man in uniform on the cover. He looked so intense, devoted and disciplined. “The few. The Proud. The Marines.” I silently read again, and in such few words I was ready to enroll into the Marines that day! So the very next day I ran to Josh…

As junior year was coming along fairly quickly I knew I had to prepare myself with my future as a marine after high school. So that 's when I contacted my marine recruiter SSGT Nunez - he was here a while ago under the tent at the turf, you may have met him. I think my junior was my best year because I had better grades in all my classes but English surprise surprise huh. I was a cadet for the Foothill division for about 3 years. I took that as an advantage when we had a project in Shoji 's…

The need for peace is growing. Military action overseas is becoming the norm instead of only when needed. The U.S military is on the ground almost any where that there is a disturbance in peace instead of only when the freedom of the American citizen is in jeopardy. It seems almost that American military is becoming world peace keepers instead of the protectors of America. The men and women who are joining and being deployed on these missions are not signing up to fight other people’s battles…