A
half a century ago, I spent the longest 13 weeks of my life at an
out-of-the-way place called Parris Island, S.C., then and now the home
of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. We were strangers who arrived
there in the middle of the night and were immediately relieved of all
our civilian clothing and possessions -- including our hair. Standing
there confused, apprehensive and bald, I remember asking myself over
and over: What the hell am I doing here? Then silently appeared in
our midst a man in a starched uniform and polished boots brimming with
self-confidence and a sense of command. This was the Marine drill
instructor, the DI, who did not conceal his disgust with what he saw in
us. I can still hear him that we were the sorriest collection of
misfits and rejects he or anyone else had ever seen. What followed
was 90 days of splendid misery. Civilian habits, speech and attitude
were marched and drilled and driven out of us. The DI was relentlessly
democratic. He treated everyone on our platoon, 189, with equal
contempt while double-timing us 12 hours a day from mess duty to the
rifle range and back. He used his personal term of endearment to remind
us, "Maggot, remember, you volunteered to be here." Somehow after
more than three months of no Cokes, no beer, no TV and not even a day
off, the DI, by then our Ultimate Authority Figure, reluctantly
conceded that just possibly, maybe someday, we might actually be
Marines. The combination of joy, relief and pride was unmatched. I
was not a great Marine. I never saw combat. I got a lot more from the
Marines than the Marines got from me. But I believe fervently that this
nation today needs the values of the Marine Corps as much as the nation
needs the Marine Corps. Of course, honor, courage and commitment are
always in short supply. But the Marines teach personal responsibility
and accountability by example, that any chain is only as strong as the
weakest individual link. As a unit, we are stronger working together
than the individual members can separately be. Marines take care of
their own -- and they take care of their fellow Marines before
themselves. The well-being of the country and of the Corps is more
important than our individual well-being. This may best be stated in
the hard-and-fast Marine rule: "Officers eat last." The Marine officer
does not eat until after his subordinates for whom he is responsible --
the corporals and privates -- have been fed. Marines live by the rule
that loyalty goes both up and down the chain of command. Would not our
country be a more just and human place if the brass of Wall Street and
Washington and executive suites believed that "officers eat last"? The
Marine ethic emphasizes responsibility to duty and responsibility to
others before self. This is the very opposite of the unbridled
individualism that elevates profit and personal comfort to high
virtues. The selfish and self-centered CEO or senator who disregards
and discards his loyal "troops" would be shunned in the Corps. Civilian
Americans must understand that the greatest civil rights victories have
been won by the Marines and the U.S. military, the most successfully
integrated sector of our national life. Why? No racial reference and no
racial discrimination. The first time I ever slept in the same quarters
with African-Americans or Latinos -- or took orders from them -- was as
a private in the Marines Corps. Yes, America really does need more Marine values and influence.
To find out more about Mark Shields and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM COPYRIGHT 2010 MARK SHIELDS
