During my senior year in high school in 1977, I was on the verge of enlisting in the Army -- within days of swearing in -- and a handful of classmates approached me. One said, "Why are you taking the easy way out? We're all joining the Marines!" Five of us swore in on Nov. 10, 1977 (the Marine Corps' birthday) under the Delayed Entry Program. We all went to boot camp together and ended up in the same platoon on Parris Island in the summer of '78.

Mark Kross, judge advocate, Marine Corps League Detachment 1039, White Haven, Pa.