Hillbilly Elegy

family that, for all its quirks, loved me
unconditionally. At that moment, I
resolved to be the type of man who
would smile when someone gave him an
eraser. I haven’t quite made it there, but
without that day in Iraq, I wouldn’t be
trying.
The other life-altering component of
my Marine Corps experience was
constant. From the first day, with that
scary drill instructor and a piece of
cake, until the last, when I grabbed my
discharge papers and sped home, the
Marine Corps taught me how to live like
an adult.
The Marine Corps assumes
maximum ignorance from its enlisted