I want to share a feeling.  It is one feeling that our former Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Krulak, wanted us all to experience.

  I’m not sure if earning this feeling comes from mentoring through the Marine Corps, or walking in the footsteps expected of a parent.  The feeling I am talking about is the chill inside you when you read a letter from a former recruit’s mother or father as they explain how their child was on the road to a life in jail or as a trouble maker.   It is the same feeling you get when your child looks at you and smiles as they show you a grade they received on a test you helped them study for or a project you helped them complete.

  Maybe it was just a kid that couldn’t find his place in the world, just a little rebellious, looking for the proper guidance, and now a United States Marine.  Maybe that is expected of a drill instructor; or maybe your child just wasn't sure they could pass that test or complete that project, but your guidance and words pushed them past their point of giving in.  After all, aren't we are just doing our job as a parent?  Telling the kid to keep going, encouraging them, pressing them to their stopping point, and then showing them what it is like to want to pass that point, and seeing their faces when they reach further and give that extra 10 percent.  

Maybe that recruit was like me when I was a young PFC or that student was like me as a child in my parents home.  If so, I hope my lessons will last in their memory until they are remembering this MGySgt and father, just as I remember a MGySgt and father that changed my life.  Does it bring tears to your eyes when a young Marine tells you that you are his Marine Corps father, or a child tells you "thanks Dad"?  When they tell you they want to emulate you, they ask, write or call for your advise, long after you have transferred to another clime and place, or even after he has separated from the Marine Corps; or the child has left home and moved away……I can feel them in my heart as I receive a Christmas card or post card, wishing me and my family well.  Maybe I am that old MGySgt or father to this young man.  

I wonder who should thank who.   

I think it is I, thanking them for showing me it was all worth while.