I am a soon-to-be 84-year-old former Marine. When I was a boy, my uncle, Pvt. Benjamin Amarone, was killed in the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was my mother’s brother, and when his remains were sent back to Connecticut for the funeral, I was 4 and a half years old. I will never forget the flag-draped coffin and the Marines in dress blues carrying it. I decided to enlist in the Corps as soon as I turned 18, which I did. I was determined to be one of the few, the proud, the Marines.

Andrew Poleshek, American Legion Post 37, St. Augustine, Fla.