By Jim Daly

What was it like to be in the Marine Corps, or the military?

Wow! What a question.

I am not sure I can describe it, but I will try. I did not grow up with a brother, so I don’t know what that was like. I had a rough childhood and did not really have a close family relationship. I was quiet and shy, so I didn’t have many friends. That is until I joined the Marine Corps. Then your whole unit is family. They are your brothers.

From the first day of boot camp you are trained to count on your drill instructors or commanders as authorities or parents, and all your unit buddies as brothers or best friends. When we are kids we respond to instructions from parents or authorities and in the military we react to our commanders: no questions.

We get a lot of education and training in the military, just like in our school years. In school and training we make friends, help each other, and spend time together in school and after school. Just like school kids do.

After training, when we are assigned to an operational unit, that is when the family relationships really develop. When we are put in many uncomfortable situations (bad weather, long hours, extreme physical demands leading to exhaustion, and high stress, etc. We support each other. We provide emotional and physical support when one of us sags a little under the conditions. We have specific duties and responsibilities that contribute to the mission, without one of which the mission would fail. We learn to count on each other as those duties each contribute to the mission as pieces of a puzzle.

Of course there are times when a disagreement of one type or another result in a fist fight or wrestling match. When it’s over, that is usually the end of the disagreement. But even if you say you hate a man, when it comes down to someone else picking on him or attacking him, you are the first to jump in to help him. Just like brothers.

We feel an individual responsibility and commitment to each other at a very deep level. I think that comes from the risk and danger of much of the training and preparation we do for the ultimate test, combat.

When not working or training together, we play together. We competed as units in sports. We party together on liberty. We help each other with our personal problems: when the car needs work, when the house needs work, when we need help in the yard, or whatever. We often help and support each other in the civilian world as well.

The ultimate test is of course, combat. We train for it. We condition our bodies for it. We develop our skills for it. We strengthen our minds for it. We practice for it. But nothing can really prepare one for the first action in combat. This is where those family-like relationships really show their strength and commitment.

We have all heard the stories of men jumping on a grenade to save their buddies. It is absolutely true, one doesn’t even think about it. We have heard about a man carrying his injured buddy a mile to an aid station. That is no problem: “He’s not heavy. He’s my brother.” Men turn into supermen when the situation requires it. I have personally worked non-stop for seven days, slept for two hours and then got up and did it again, because men could have died if I did not get my job done.

And when one of your buddies is killed, it really hurts. You never forget.

This past weekend I was at a Viet Nam Veterans of America conference. I met two Marines who were at the same hotel to visit the family (Gold Star Family) of one of their buddies. One of them was the Platoon Commander and the other had been the Squad Leader for this Marine that was killed in combat in Iraq many years ago. One of them traveled from Texas and the other from California at their own expense, to meet with the family of their Marine buddy. To support their buddy and his family.

Was it hard? Yes. Did we get hurt? Yes, many of us did. Would we do it again? Absolutely.

There was some sacrifice, a little suffering, and a lot of fun with your buddies.

I guess that is what it is like to be in the Marine Corps, and I suspect the other branches as well. The respect, commitment, and dedication to each other runs deep. It is ingrained in us. It lasts a lifetime.

We would help each other or even die for each other without hesitation. We live for each other. We are family. We are brothers. We love each other.

Please remember: Many of our young men and women have sacrificed greatly around the world, to protect our country, our rights and freedoms, our allies, and the Flag of the United States of America. I am proud to have been one of them, and would gladly defend this great country again today or any day.

Jim Daly, of Aberdeen, is a retired Marine Corps captain with a long involvement in the Veterans of Foreign Wars.