Recovering Marine

As the majority of you know, Dave has been out of "active duty USMC life" for about about 22 months now. The adjustment to civilian life and no longer being an active duty Marine has been somewhat challenging to say the least-for both of us. There are a variety of reasons why this has been challenging, most of which I have blogged about before. No need to go into them now. If you know and/or love a Marine that is no longer active duty then you have a much clearer understanding of this process and can empathize with my current situation. I finally had an "ah-ha" moment while reading my latest installment of Sgt. Grit's newsletter. (Note: by clicking on Sgt. Grit it will take you to USMC paraphernalia heaven and by clicking on newsletter it will take you to the archive of this week's newsletter.) I love this newsletter because it has reminded me on every step of my journey as a Marine's wife that my path is not unique and humor is required to deal with life as such. This newsletter also has a tendency to make me cry on a regular basis because I am so touched by a story included. Ok, back to the story at hand...

There has been a continuing debate about what to call a Marine once he/she has left active duty life. The saying is "once a Marine, always a Marine" and it is very, very true in so many different ways. Again, this is where the knowledge of what it is like to know and/or love a Marine comes in handy. Do we call this Marine a Former Marine? Well, technically he's still a Marine so no former applies here. Do we call him an Ex-Marine? An ex is something you get rid of. Nobody gets rid of a Marine, he's always a Marine. This is why I have taken to referring to Dave as a Marine who is no longer on active duty. Finally, I have a more apt term to explain his current situation and status as a Marine. He is a Recovering Marine. Please read the following to understand why...


Sgt Grit,
Much has been written about being a Ex or Former US Marine, but after doing 4.5 years in the Corps, I am neither an Ex or Former Marine.

For I go by the title of a: Recovering US Marine and I am still in Recovery.

Since I am in Recovery, with some sort of Recovery plan to deal with my Marine Corps ways, for my family and love ones ... every day is a struggle for these good kind people. But with hope, kindest, care, happy thoughts, love, feelings, and other happy words & kind thoughts ... I will get over being a US Marine, someday, maybe, if I try hard, I can kick it, I know that I can. {Oh, how I love this part. As one of those good kind people left to deal with a Recovering Marine it is good to know my Marine is at least attempting recovery no matter how insurmountable that task seems.}

In the mean time I just tell people, when I am asked: are you an Ex-Marine, I say no, I am Recovery US Marine, I am still in Recovery. And some day, with time, hard work, doing some sort of recovery plan, that I will get over being a US Marine. Maybe, with time, it could take a while, I am working in that direction, I am trying, but someday I do hope, maybe with time to get out of recovery and no longer be a Recovering US Marine. {True Marine spirit hard at work here...never give up.}

So in the time being; I still ring the ships bell for "all hands man your drinking stations, this is not a drill", think fat kids should do rifle PT or throw square bales on a farm, my rifle is still my piece, if you say K-Bar ... I giggle or grunt, I still like M543s, still have a house wife, a rubber lady, can rant and rave on command, I go to the Chow Hall Store, the head is a head, the shower is the rain room, still sweep and swab, and I can still find my sea bag, I think. For the sea bag, may have to field day below decks aka the basement but since winter is soon to be in MN that could happen. {Well, the good news is Dave won't have far to look to find his sea bags. They're still full of his leftover gear from active duty life and easily found in our spare room.}

So, make a Tee shirt out of that! Recovering US Marine. Maybe I should have copyrighted Recovering US Marine, before I told you. But h&ll, I am still in Recovery!

Take care, Semper Fi,
Pete Berg
Deerwood, MN
73 to 78


Note:
We took your advice.. Recovering Marine T-Shirt

Semper Fi Sgt Grit

Sgt. Grit- I love the t-shirt. Can we have one for the wife of a Recovering Marine too please? It should come with a chocolate bar too. I hear chocolate relieves stress and I know my Recovering Marine causes me lots of stress sometimes. Thanks.

So henceforth and so on Dave shall be referred to as a Recovering Marine instead of a No Longer Active Duty Marine. Now if only there were some 12 step program with a proven success rate for kicking this habit we'd both be happier...that or we'd be knee deep in a 12 step program. In the meantime I will be living life with my Recovering Marine and in those especially trying moments when being married to a Recovering Marine becomes almost unbearable I will try to remember that I am not alone in my journey as the wife of a Recovering Marine.