It Was Twenty Years Ago Today…

…that I stepped off of the bus in San Diego, California, at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, and stood on the yellow footprints. Minutes later my head was shaved, and I began what had to be at least 36 continuous hours of processing (paperwork, urine tests, etc.) before I was allowed to sleep.

I remember being teased by one of my drill instructors for my initial enlistment of six years. When he saw my military ID, with the discharge date of 14 July 92, he quipped that they wouldn’t even have cars anymore when I got out, that I was a “Buck Rogers” Marine. Six years seemed like a long time then, but when I got out, it didn’t seem that long.

Here we are twenty years later, and it still doesn’t seem like that long ago really, until I stop to think that if I had stayed in, I would have retired yesterday. Retiring at age 38 is certainly appealing enough, but in retrospect I can’t imagine my life without my wonderful wife Dixie and my little Noah-man. I definitely chose the right path.