I have been doing a great deal of traveling lately and my adventures have taken me to many of our fine military bases here in the United States. Recently I had a pretty good excuse to go to Southern California. I was able to spend time at the Marine Bases in Dan Diego and out at 29 Palms. It was during this trip that I had the great fortune, and truly the honor, to attend Family Day at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

For those of you who haven’t been through boot camp, Family Day is held the Thursday before graduation. The men who have managed to survive the late nights and early mornings, the relentless screams and constant demands for perfection from their drill instructors, the back breaking humps and arm killing push ups and the test of endurance and strength that is The Crucible, are only a day away from graduation….and from freedom from the al seeing eyes of their drill sergeants. Family Day is the first time they have been allowed to see their families since they boarded those buses all those weeks ago. It is also the first time they have been allowed to wear their service uniform. Instead of the familiar cammies, they meet their families in the green service uniform of a Marine, complete with the prized Eagle, Globe and Anchor.

On this day, I was able to sit and watch these reunions. Mothers who had waved goodbye to boys, were suddenly faced with men. Fathers who berated their sons for staying out past curfew or failing a class were shaking hands with changed men. Gone were last year’s high school graduates, and in their place stood our newest Marines. They walked with pride, shoulders back and chests stuck out whenever someone called them “Marine.” I saw mothers, wives and girlfriends clinging to the arm of their loved one as they walked around the base. More than once I saw a Marine gently move his mother or wife to his left side so his right hand would be free to render a salute. I saw the confidence, even the arrogance, of young men who were now a part of one of the greatest legacies this country y has ever produced, the United States Marine Corps.

But even as I smiled and shook the hand of young man in a crisply pressed uniform and highly polished shoes who just last year had been renting a tuxedo for prom, I knew I was also looking at men who would more than likely be covered with sand and dirt in Iraq next year. These are the men who will continue the fight, the men who have volunteered to defend this nation, the men who have already given their blood and sweat for the honor of becoming a Marine. Semper Fideles and congratulations Marines.