Parris Island, S.C., boot camp in 1961 was demanding, as it was designed to be for fledgling want-to-be Marines. Most drill instructors were Korean War veterans who knew the demands of the battlefield and held us to high standards.

On our second or third evening of training our senior drill instructor posted a map on how to escape the island and a route to avoid military police and other hindrances if we didn't want to be there.

Not one recruit took his suggestion; nonetheless, two disgruntled recruits remained in the barracks one morning while the rest of us went to breakfast. They took turns cutting each others trigger fingers off by smashing a bayonet with the butt of their rifles. Better they show their mettle in boot camp than in a foxhole under fire. Never saw either one of them again.

Semper Fi,
Sgt. Stephen J. Shaw
1961-1966