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September 15, 2007
My Brother - The Marine
Years ago, I looked at pictures of a friend's adorable toddlers and wondered what they would do with their lives. That question was answered recently when I received the following essay, written by the older brother. Toddlers grow up and some grow up to be Marines.
Never have I ever been more proud of a man as I am today of my brother, The Marine. As an older brother who finished high school and moved on to a college education and a division one athletic program I thought I was setting the perfect example for my younger brother. Little did I know that what I was doing was taking an easy route compared to what my brother was willing to do for this country. Growing up, constant harassment was part of being an older brother, but nothing was more important to me than protecting my little brother. Growing up I was his protector. Now he is mine.Before leaving for basic training numerous times I fell to my knees in tears and prayed begging the Holy Spirit to protect my brother in his service. For the first time I felt like I could not protect him. He seemed too young to be serving our country and to weak to be protecting me. I could not have been more wrong. After he left for basic training I struggled once again, wondering what would become of this brother of mine and what it was that he was trying to accomplish. The day I received his first letter all my uncertainties were put aside; he was becoming a man. His voice and vocabulary was expressed at the highest level of maturity and articulation. This once younger brother of mine, who I once shared a bunk bed with as a child, was training to become a protector of me and my country. I continued to receive letters. It was inevitable that he would change, but never in my mind could I ever imagine the young man I grew up with transforming like this. The wording and way he talked about his experience and feelings were amazing. Honor, Courage, and Commitment, the Marine Corp values were coming out in his personality.
Upon his graduation from basic training I had an overwhelming sense of uncertainty. What would he look like? What would he act like? Would he be the same person? The morning of their motivational run I stood in the parking lot adjacent to the parade deck waiting for the answers to my questions. As a shallow roar from the end of the base came into hearing range a chill went throughout my whole body. As the recruits of India Company ran toward us, I could not believe the amount of discipline and attention to detail they had established in such a short time. As the first two platoons passed before me and my family, platoon 3203 came upon us. There stood a man in the fourth row of his platoon. He stood straighter, taller, and with the utmost confidence. Nothing could break his attention. This man was my brother. The brother I thought I could protect for the rest of my life. To make sure nothing would ever happen to him. But my life was now in his hands. As he stood at attention, I could not have felt safer in my own country. These were our future protectors and they were well prepared for anything. These men were about to become the greatest of military professionals in the United States of America; they were becoming Marines.
As the men of India Company moved on with their four mile run that day, my brother became the hero of my life. Before I had strived to become his hero, but that day and forever more he will be mine. Everything I will ever do since that day will been put in perspective: What really is important? Whatever I pursue in my life is directly attributed to the military professionals of this country. My brother is fighting so that I can get married to the woman I love. He is fighting so that I can go to college. He is fighting so that I can attend church and pursue faith in the God I choose.
I could never imagine the responsibility that my brother is about to take on for this great nation. He has put all fear and doubt aside and gone forth as a man to protect our country and there is nothing more respectable than that in a man or woman. At only eighteen years of age, it seems outrageous to send a life of that delicacy into a life of battle but that is exactly what the Marines are fighting for; freedom and the delicacy of life. My brother has become the ultimate protector and I could not be more proud of the man he has become today. Once again he is leaving for more training and I do not know the next time I will see him. But at the same time I feel safer knowing that there are men like my brother, who are all over the world ready to protect me, my family, and my country.
Semper Fidelis.
Posted by Deb at September 15, 2007 12:59 PM
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Comments
What a beautiful letter from a proud brother! It brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing it!
Posted by: Marine Wife at September 21, 2007 03:39 PM