Memorial Day: We recognize the face
Whenever I see a picture of a United States Marine,
I am transported back in time 40 years ago.
I recognize the face. I am one of them.
In 1982, a lumpy 26-year-old student with a three-and-a-half-year college
degree clawed and crawled his way through boot camp on the edge of tentative tenacity.
Morning wake-up calls - drill instructors slammed trash can lids on the spotless floor,
overhead barracks lights blazed in sleepy eyes like stinging sparks,
the split-second scramble to jump out of bed
or fall off like a bowling ball and stand at attention,
in my underwear, in front of your rack.