THE PHOE IX
2
From a Marine Boot~ W. R. fun read ing all I T'SW :-\YbeenES . grand WACS and SPA R S .
about the Dut no,,· your Alumnae Ed itor is a :\Iarine Doot, and 1 am determined that you must haYe a little insid e inf ormati on on the M a rin e Co rps of th e U nited States. .Please note th at I say I'm a :\Iarine Doot. because three weeks in the Corp is scarcely tim e enough to appreciate or realize all the trainin g and disciplin e required to make a real :\Iarine. You'll just have to pa rdon a little boasting because our now fa mous "Espri t de Corp ., has taken effect . O ne gets the fir st stir of it at a ny Recrui t O ffi ce . T he snap, precision, enthu siasm of the O ffice rs and enlisted personn el make. an immediate impression. Delieve me, waiting fo r orders is a rea l ordeal. T ime cra wl s, clays refu se to end, bu t eventually, the postm an has a la rge brow n envelope fo r you , ca rryin g yo ur ,fir st intructi ons. T hey concern cl othing to be brought to camp, and explain loads of oth er ques ti ons you've been turning over in yo ur min d. T he reel letter clay in the calenda r, th ough, is th e one on which your ord ers fin ally ar ri ve . T here are seYeral cities ca lled "gate\\·ays, .. one o f whi ch you pass through in route to camp Lejeune. I came through the \\ 'ashin gton Gateway . It was fun meeting g iri - on the train wearina :\Ja rin e Co rp armband . T he "Gateway '' is where all g irls fr om one a rea meet to tra1·el togeth er to 1\ e\\· l{ iYer and Camp Le jeun e. Jts really a sight! So many girl s boa rd ing a long troop train. At \ \'ashingto n \\·e had our foretaste o f taking orders. Many offi ce rs a nd enli ted per ·onnel were on board. Yo u reall y fe lt fo r the fi r ·t time. as though you " ·e re go ing to camp. Camp Le jeun e occupies about 200 sq ua re miles of i\o rth Ca rolin a's easte rn ea boa rcl. T he camp must be seen to be apprec iated. (T hat' s ea ·ier to say when one may not g ive minu te detail ·. Hut its a in ce re statement.) :\fay I dig ress fo r a moment on a wea th er repo rt ? S un~ \\ 'e ha1·e loads of it ne ry clay. .:\o\\·here is the sky blu er than in \'o rth 'a rolin a. I ~Ye n in Decembe r \\·e play ·oft ball and \'Oll ey ba ll in playsuit ·. T his im presses me, because Cleveland \\·eather is ve ry dull in win ter mon ths. [nough of th is. 1\oot Ca mp is an expe ri ence in its m1·n class. l;ttn ? \'o bett er fun to he had. li ard II"Ork ~ :\lore tha n you\·e e1·er had of it. \\ 'e a re in classes from m.;oo to l(i30. ( ( )n e of the fi rst thi1ws 1·ou learn i - .:\a,·y Time. ) Classes are
interesting . T hey open an entire new fi eld of endeavo r. \\ "hen we have graduated from !loot Camp, we'll kn ow Yolum es a bout the .:\avy a nd :\fa rin e Co rp and th eir inn er wo rkings . \'\ e are pa rti cula rly proud o f our instructi on in clo ·e order drill. O ne pe ri od each day is clcYOted to thi s work. T hey tell us that the \\'omens H.ese r ves a re snapp ier and more profi cient in thi s th a n th e men . It is a thrillin g sigh t to sec a Compa ny of \ V.R 's execute a trick drill. "\' o bett er way to accustom you to be on th e al ert for instant orders. In our free ( ?) time, we visit our a rea o i the camp, buy things at th e fasc inating 1).X ., or go to the H.ecreati on l..la ll. Th ere a re ·o many of us here tha t we ta ke turn s at Yi sitin g these places . T hen, too, mov ies at least once a wee k. T he call to mu ster fo r a moYi e almost provokes a stampede. It's almo t as popula r as t he mu ster fo r chow. .r\nd , by the way, foo d i g rand and pl enty o f it. A R egimental Parade is a thrill beyo nd thrill s. l [ere let me include a sho rt essay written by one :\I arin e IJ oot the night fo ll owing her fir ·t H.egimentaf Pa rade. lt so aptly expresses th e se nti ment s of us all, that I as ked her permi ss ion to in cl ud e it.
"A Boot Stops to Think" "Satmday evenin g. 9:0 5, or 2 10.1 ~avy tim e. Seems f unny to wri te 6 :\'ov. -1-3 a nd reali ze th at it was 6 Oct. -1-3 th at we a rriYed in .:\ew I~ i vc r . Liow many thin gs go into chang in g an average civili an into an ayerage ~ Ia rin e . So many little things, that if p u t end to end , \\·ould be num berl ess, bu t a ll togeth er, thi s ·hapeless mas · of 'do' · a nd 'dont 's ' eith er change you int o a ~ I a rin e or yo u become useless to everyo ne, incl uding yo m self. Jt is the la w of give a nd take; li sten th en act. L..Tow easy to say, 'J t's not my fa ul t; they j ust pick on me!' \\'onde r how ma ny times thin gs you did \\·eren' t ca ll ed o ff ? Yo u thought that \\·as sma r t 1 ~ow ! \ \'e ll , a :\I arine, at lea ·t a rea l :\J arine, is t ru e to hi · (;od , hi s co un try, and a lso to him self. Ca n't be any room fo r the petty little half jobs. 1\ettcr yo u thi nk a bit. then pu t e1·' ry pa rticle of yo ur effo rt in th d ri1·e to ward th at goal. \"c1·er put it . o low that you 'll st um ble o1·e r it on yo ur fi rst step. \'o thin g g rows un de r a cock. It is on ly by reaching ior the sun that liie :-.t retches its poss ibil ities until, what yeste rday
