It's been more than 10 years since I was in the Marine Corps. And since that time, a lot of people have asked me a lot of questions about it. And they usually ask the typical questions. "What did you do? Where did you live? Did you travel? Was it difficult? Would you do it again? Do you keep in touch with the guys you knew? Did you get any tattoos? Is that where you met Carissa?"
But the question people rarely ask, if ever, is, "What's the most valuable lesson you learned from your time in the Corps?"
I think most people expect Marines to learn things like how to shoot a fully automatic machine gun, hike a million miles, eat crappy food in thirty seconds or less, shave your head and salute officers. And while they look at the guys in the picture above proudly, they don't have a full understanding of what's under the uniform.
I think it comes down to the fact that while most people can recognize the aspects of the Corps, they so often miss the essence of the Corps. And that's fine. It's difficult to appreciate all that is involved in something you haven't done or been yourself. But I want to try to answer the question so you can have a deeper understanding and appreciation the next time you see a Marine in uniform at the airport coming home from war...or headed to war.
What I learned (besides how to shoot a fully automatic machine gun, hike a million miles, eat crappy food in thirty seconds or less, shave my head and salute officers) is that there still exists such a thing as selfless love and devotion for country.
If you listen to the media, you'll hear how our country is tired of fighting "other people's" wars. If you read what the "experts" have to say, you may convince yourself that the best thing to do is pull the troops out of harm's way now. But if you ask the men and women serving, I'm convinced that you would get a very different picture.
See, every person in the Corps wakes up each day, whether they are in a war zone or not, ready to fight and die if needed for their friends and their country. Sure, they quarrel amongst themselves. What family doesn't? Sure, they may complain about what they're doing while they're doing it. You would too if you lived in the desert without seeing your family for months at a time.
But when it comes down to it, every Marine is there, willing to lay down his life for someone else in order to serve the greater good. And I'm pretty sure there's no greater love than that (John 15:13).
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