There’s a lot of famous scenes where soldiers go through boot camp, and get yelled at and drilled until it’s instilled. But how real is that, and what does it take to go from civvie to a Semper-Fi-spewin’ Marine?
The LA Times follows three kids, including one Iranian-American, to find out:
While still in high school, the friends had enlisted under the Marines’ buddy program, which guaranteed they would train in the same platoon throughout boot camp. In July, a Times article recounted the friends’ decisions to enlist and the trauma that had ensued in their homes. Now, their eager anticipation was about to run into reality.
[Staff Sgt. Juan] Diazdumeng rattled off a compendium of boot camp horrors: Black Friday, four days hence, when the recruits are assigned drill sergeants and platoons. Hell Week, the third week, crammed with debilitating tests of stamina. The Crucible, the eighth week, a punishing three-day sojourn in the mountains of Camp Pendleton.
His voice softened as he offered final advice: “Listen to the drill instructors. Do everything they tell you. Do not ask questions. They are telling you to do certain things for a reason, OK? And have a great time. Boot camp is so much fun.”
It would be one of the last times over the next three months that a Marine in authority would speak to the three recruits in a calm, nurturing, reassuring tone. In just a few hours, they would be confronted by hyper-aggressive drill sergeants whose piercing screams would begin a process of stripping suburban teenagers of their civilian psyches, their blasé attitudes, their very identities.
Be sure to watch the narrated slideshow.
