When I enlisted in the Marine Corps on April 18, 1969, I sort of knew what to expect when I arrived at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. Upon arrival at the airport, we were told by a sergeant to line up on the island in front of the terminal and wait for the bus. As we were standing there, some hippies kept taunting us and giving us the one-finger peace sign. The sergeant made it loud and clear that we were not to talk or make any gestures back. In his voice, you could tell that he wasn’t fooling. So began what I thought was the worst time of my life.
Upon arrival at MCRD, the bus came to a stop and the front door opened. A staff sergeant got on board and started yelling about some yellow footprints, and nobody better touch him on the way out. Seeing how he was standing in the middle of the aisle, the entire bus of recruits went over the seats or out the windows. Thus began some of the most interesting weeks of my life. I thought that the gates of hell opened and swallowed us all.
The next 9½ weeks were very intense to say the least. We had three drill instructors who took pleasure in making our lives miserable. I thought they were sadists and really enjoyed messing with our minds and tormenting us. They had to enjoy watching us screw up so they could make it harder on us.
I was wrong.
They were doing their jobs to make us Marines and get us ready to survive a war. When I left San Diego, I thought that I hated them, and never wanted to see them again. In Vietnam, I finally saw why they did what they did.
Staff Sergeant E. A. Rivera, our senior drill instructor, was killed in action that next February. I didn’t even get the chance to thank him. I believe that SSgt Rivera, SSgt R. H. Funkhouser and Sergeant J. S. Levinson did their jobs so well, that I am here today writing this letter. I got the chance to thank SSgt Funkhouser, because he lives in my home state of Illinois, and I tracked him down to say thanks. I still don’t know the whereabouts of Sgt Levinson. But someday I hope to be able to thank him.
I just wanted to say thank you to every Marine who took on the task of teaching new recruits. I would like to thank them for wanting to go through the training to become drill instructors and for wanting to keep the Marine Corps the finest fighting outfit in the universe. So, to all past, present and future drill instructors: Thank you and Semper Fi!
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