Christian! Don’t forget who you are!

A United States Marine is a marine all the time.  He is disciplined in mind and body in order to meet the demands of the day whether in training or in combat.

He is understood by his family, friends and by all society to be separated from ‘normal’ American life.  The Corps automatically makes him different, unique, and respected for it.  He is known by his uniform, but if the uniform is taken away, he is still a Marine.  He remembers who he is and demonstrates his identity in his character and behavior.

He began as a boot camp rookie and was subjected to harsh discipline and instruction that caused him to choose another way of life from what he had known before.  He chose to die to what he was to take on a new identity and personhood.  Cosmetic, superficial change would not be enough. There were many conflicts between his old identity and the new, but the Corps is constant and pushed and pulled him through each.

He has had faithful instructors who were not often ‘nice,’ not always ‘understanding’, but always ‘by the book.’  They never settled for the old person to be given any place.  The boy must be made into a man. They created the situations that caused the changes of mind necessary for him to be transformed into a Marine.

He must not forget who he is or he will pay a price in discipline and need to be retrained.  If he wants to be a Marine, he will learn from his mistakes and get back on the path.  He hurts, he grumbles, he doesn’t understand how the current hard circumstances could lead to anything worth the price.  He is humiliated, humbled, ridiculed, and shamed.  He does not rebel or run.  He comes slowly into this new identity displayed on all the posters. 

Now he will always be a United States Marine and known as such.  He does not forget who he is.