Want to feel patriotic?  Want to feel proud of this country? Want to be in a screaming horde of over 1,000 excited, happy people? Attend a Marine Corps boot camp graduation ceremony! There are ONLY TWO Marine Corps recruit depots in the U.S., one on the East coast, in Parris Island, South Carolina, and one on the West coast in San Diego, California. The deciding factor is “east of the Mississippi River,” or “west of the Mississippi River." Both camps are quite famous, for slightly different reasons. On July 11, we attended my grandson’s graduation at Parris Island, after a 13-week vigorous training, including “The Crucible” (added in 1996), a 54-hour grueling test of strength and endurance, with very little food or sleep, and extremely difficult physical training including 48 miles of marching.  If you can make it through all of that, you are one of “The Few, The Proud”, and Semper Fi (Fidelis) is your motto- ALWAYS FAITHFUL. Even at the graduation, they told us, “You are part of the Marine family now.” It is a tight network of support and camaraderie.

The U.S. Marine Corps was actually founded on Nov. 10, 1775, in Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as it became the first recruiting office, so officially, they are 250 years old. Parris Island is a world unto itself, A Marine base founded in 1915, 8,095 acres, with only 3,262 habitable. It is 4 miles by 3 miles, and it was an important base for the Union navy in the Civil war.  Back then, it was Paris Island, and the large main boulevard is still Boulevard De France, but now it is spelled Parris, and since then, over 2 million recruits have earned the title United States Marine. That includes women!  Yes, women are Marines, and Drill Instructors too! I saw a few. “The world’s most notorious drill instructors!” (Not sergeants, that is an Army term!) Their training is 11 weeks long, and they have a strict creed to follow.

The island is full of magnificent live oak trees, draped in Spanish moss, has salt marshes, alligators, seafowl and every year 20,000 recruits attend boot camp there. Currently, there are 181,000 active-duty Marines and 33,000 reserves, so that is one example of “The few”, as compared to the Army with 450,000 actives.

So, we went to the graduation ceremony. Awesome!  Play by play…. get up super early on July 10th, get on base, join the hundreds of families who had “set up camp” at 4 a.m. on the long entrance boulevard, with tents, canopies, balloons, flags, streamers, banners, posters, twirlers, chairs, tables, etc. to line the motivational run path, an avenue of festive colors; red, white and blue, and red and gold (Marine colors) All of the 250 recruits ran by on the 2.5-mile motivational run, looking straight ahead, as we focused on them, screaming and shouting encouragement the whole way. The run went under a huge arch with the sign ”WE MAKE MARINES”. Then they were allowed to shower, dress in their camouflage uniforms ‘fatigues’, as I knew it.  Then, the families, and I mean parents, grandparents, great-

grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, babies, friends, ALL, gathered in the huge all-weather depot.  We watched films on jumbo screens and waited. Until… we saw the gigantic metal doors rising, and could hear “Left, right” marching feet, thundering, as each of the 5 platoons marched in. The crowd was on their feet screaming until all 250 were in, in perfect order. We had to be quiet for the flags, national anthem, speeches, introductions of drill instructors. BTW, all of the Marines and all of the drill masters were from ALL OVER the U.S. and a few naturalized ones from other countries. It was fantastic to watch it all. Then the announcement, you may ‘tap out your Marine’, and all hell broke loose as the crowd stampeded, surged over the bleachers, and over 1,000 family friends ran screaming to the floor to hug their new Marine. Lots of hollering, hugs, tears, photos, then we had them for a few hours, until they had to report back until the next day. There was a dinner with the drill instructors, optional, very nice, which we attended in a very impressive hall with large state flags from all 50 states hanging from the rafters, and a replica of Tun Tavern and a military band concert.

Early the next morning, we were on base, trying to find a seat in the bleachers on the huge parade deck. BTW, it was very hot, blazing sun, sweltering! And the audience had all manner of fans, hats, misters, umbrellas, all perspiring heavily, but nothing compared to the Marines in full dress, marching in the sun! The ceremony commenced with a full Marine band marching and playing patriotic songs (VERY impressive). A flag ceremony, national anthem, speeches, cannon fire ceremony, parade marching by the Marines, in handsome dress blues (blue pants, khaki shirts, white hats) until the graduation WAS OVER, and again, screaming hordes of family rushed the field to congratulate their Marine, and take them home or to R and R for 10 days before the next camp assignment.

There was every possible design of family shirts, inspiration, patriotic gear, but my favorite one shone "My Marine Has Your Back”. Amen! May God bless and protect them! 

Carol Veliotis is a local columnist for The Covington News. She can be reached at carol.veliotis@gmail.com.