Marine Corps Association & Foundation

I was married into the Marine Corps on July 27, 2001 and was issued a dependent ID card. At the time of issue, I was an excited blushing bride that didn’t think much of the title dependent. Now, 10 years of marriage, 7 moves, 4 combat tours, 3 children, and one recruiting tour later, I respectfully request permission to add an “independent” before that dependent.

In many ways we are the product of our childhood and our environment. My parents were of “the greatest generation,” and were much older when I was born. My father, a veteran of the Army Air Corps, was almost 50. What he lacked in his ability to tell bedtime stories,