SDF: Semper Fi

Olga-Maria Cruz

December 27, 2001

The crew of rangy boys waits quietly in the airport lounge. Newly shorn recruits, the Marine Corps has sent them signing bonuses for Christmas, a peaceful holiday at home, and now, two days later, is shipping them off to training camp in South Carolina before Iraq. Boys from Seneca High School, boys from Male and Central, seventeen-, eighteen-year-old, soft-faced skinny boys, never flown before; some of them, it’s their first time in an airport.

They gather and smile for the veteran who’s taking their picture. Instead of “cheese,” he tells them, “Semper Fi.” A few boys laugh nervously boarding the plane, claim to each other they’ll feel better on the boat.