Re: Marines: How do you still act b/c of your DI?
When I ran, sooner or later I would hear,'kill, kill, kill, kill..." when my left foot hit the deck. My DI used to run right next to me and with that DI 'whisper' "Kill! Kill!..." each time my left foot hit the ground. He was a cajun grunt, six foot plus, typical MArine DI I suppose. The walking on the grass is Old Corps(Plt 3070,'Last of The Old Corps'). In MCRD SD one did not ever form up on the grass, walk on the grass, or even think to look at the grass. Headgear indoors is a huge no-go, and I cannot look at anyone wearing a hat inside without offering a comment on their manners. Can't NOT let it go. Boot and Shoe laces get crossed on the right boot, Left over right, and on the left boot, Right over left. Irish Pennants are not there on any clothing once they are identified. Walking away from anything, I always step off left foot first.
I find it amazing that so many years after, the effects are so permanant. When I had a closed head injury that almost knocked me out, left me with amnesia for three days, gave me long term memory loss, and short term issues in 2001, it was the inner Marine that got me through the next six years trying to find Myself, rebuild Me, so that each time I looked in the mirror the three of us could be one again. It was waking up on day after No1, seeing me in a USMC photo(My grad photo was at the end of boot, so I had the tan, etc) I knew that was Me, a Marine. Open the closet and see uniforms...ARmy uniforms and something wasn't quite right, but Marine I was, and Marine I would be. For something to be seared so deep, so deeply ingrained it makes for self recognition at a level only a Few know is something else indeed. I often wonder how much of myself would have recovered from the Post Concussive Syndrome without that anchor deep in my soul, that seared in, tattooed, branded Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, that is dead center of my heart and soul.
Some are fortunate to be Born Again Hard as Marines. It was the dedication, the self kick in the ass of that Inner Marine that has given me the tenacity to succeed and to never, ever, never, give up on anything. Quit? Perish the thought. A Marine does not quit!
Semper Fi Gunny LeRoy, and Thank You