Marine!

No longer Recruit, now he is Marine!
Following the 54-hour Crucible, my son and his fellow India Company recruits became U.S. Marines yesterday during the Eagle, Globe and Anchor ceremony.

All Marines die, in the red flash of battle or the white cold of a nursing home. In the vigor of youth or the infirmity of age all will eventually die, but the Marine Corps lives on. Every Marine who ever lived is living still, in the Marines who claim the title today. It is that sense of belonging to something that will outlive your own mortality that gives people a light to live by and a flame to mark their passing.
Marines call it esprit de corps.

Eagle, Globe and Anchor

The general design of the emblem was probably derived from the British Royal Marines' "Globe and Laurel." The globe on the U.S. Marine emblem signifies service in any part of the world. The eagle also indirectly signifies service worldwide, although this may not have been the intention of the designers in 1868. The eagle which they selected for the Marine emblem is a crested eagle, a type found all over the world. On the other hand, the eagle pictured on the great seal and the currency of the United States is the bald eagle, strictly a North American variety. The anchor, whose origin dates back to the founding of the Marine Corps in 1775, indicates the amphibious nature of Marines' duties.

On 22 June 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an Executive Order, which approved the design of an official seal for the United States Marine Corps. The new seal had been designed at the request of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr.

The new seal consisted of the traditional Marine Corps emblem in bronze; however, an American bald eagle replaced the crested eagle depicted on the 1868 emblem, and is depicted with wings displayed, standing upon the western hemisphere of the terrestrial globe, and holding in his beak a scroll inscribed with the Marine Corps motto "Semper Fidelis" (Ever Faithful) with the hemisphere superimposed on a foul anchor. The seal is displayed on a scarlet background encircled with a Navy blue band edged in a gold rope rim and inscribed "Department of the Navy, United States Marine Corps" in gold letters. Coincident with the approval of this seal by the President, the emblem centered on the seal was adopted in 1955 as the official Marine Corps Emblem. leatherneck

And then ...

A warriors breakfast.    

Once the emblems were passed out, the company commander delivered an inspiring message to the new Marines expressing his elation with their accomplishments and encouraging them to stay motivated. Then he dismissed them to shower before eating a well-deserved Warrior’s Breakfast, which included bagels, cereal, steak, eggs and more.
“Before they didn’t even get to see their drill instructors drink or eat. Now they’re sitting down with them,” said 1st Sgt. Sean P. Farrow. “They just became a part of the toughest organization in the world. If that’s not the most significant moment in their life, we failed them.”  dvids