event, and though I’m sure some law of
friction can explain what happened, I
imagined that Mamaw had stopped the
car from toppling over the side of the
mountain. I reoriented the car, returned
to my lane, and then pulled off to the
side. That was when I broke down and
released the tears that I’d held back
during the previous two weeks. I spoke
to Lindsay and Aunt Wee before
restarting my journey, and within a few
hours I was back at the base.
My final two years in the Marines flew
by and were largely uneventful, though
two incidents stand out, each of which
speaks to the way the Marine Corps
changed my perspective. The first was a