I joined the United States Marine Corps when I was 17 years old. More specifically, 5 days after my 17th birthday my mother had to go with me to sign the papers for my enrollment because I wasn’t legally old enough to do it myself (you have to be 18). Believe me, she didn’t want to do it, but I felt it was my duty to defend this country and she respected my decision.

Less than 8 hours after I graduated from high school I was on an airplane to Marine Corp Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA, where I was to spend the next few months of my life. Since that time people have often asked me what USMC Boot Camp was like, often comparing it to the movie Full Metal Jacket. And I tell them in most ways it was actually a lot worse than that movie.
Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Steve for finding and sharing this with me. Also, thanks to United Airlines for taking care of our Marine Corps to the very end.

People need to remember that the US Marines live to protect freedom.

They are deployed by politicians and they execute on commands to the very last man, without question. You can be for, or against, this or any other war but you owe your freedom as an American to a dead Marine somewhere.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you need proof that the Marine Corps is full of complete bad-asses, just take a look at this video.

The USMC Silent Drill Platoon travels all over the US and the world putting on demonstrations of coordinated perfection the equivalent of the Navy’s Blue Angels.

Pay particular attention towards the end of the video when it’s time for the rifle inspections…
Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of people out there are too young to remember the 1970’s TV show The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner, so in short it was about a woman who had near super-human powers as a result of bionic implants after a skydiving accident.

Well, reality becomes one step closer to fiction now that Claudia Mitchell, a former US marine, has been fitted with her new bionic arm. This new piece of technology is controlled by thought, and is six times faster than older technology in actual usage.
Read the rest of this entry »