Gentlemen, indulge me if you will for few moments of your time.
So, I retired on Friday. Not retired retired as in never working again but held my retirement ceremony from the Marine Corps. The pomp and circumstance is done. Pretty much a ‘the Marine Corps Hymn has been played for you; go get the final paperwork on your own time’ sort of thing. I came home with less people attending than expected and very introspective on the whole matter. By the by, there’s a shittiness to RSVP’ing ‘yes’ and not showing...keep that in mind in your social engagements.
Introspection follows along the lines of ‘did I achieve enough’ countered against some things the Retiring Officer related to the crowd. He reached out to folks I’d served with or those that taught me in high school, all of whom couldn’t attend, for comments. The crux of his statements were that I was the “smart guy”, the “intellectual”, and the one “that challenged our critical thoughts and made us think critically about them.” Beyond generous about my contributions but frankly those are the kind of things people had said about me since I was a Captain.
I spoke about home. I’m not sure you guys know this but I’m second generation Marine. I’ve carried my Father’s sword for 21 years. It’s been in active service for nearly 50 years (his first one was stolen in Naples in the ‘60s). The building I retired in, Harry Lee Hall, is a mile from the house where my Mother passed away in when I was twelve. I rode past the building on the way to elementary school, went to Boy Scouts nearby it, snuck my dog (against policy) in and out of it when we moved, my brother had his prom in the very same room of my ceremony, and my parents had their wedding reception upstairs from it. Quantico, for lack of a better word, was my hometown and Harry Lee Hall is a good representation of it.
Afterward, I was struck by a theme I never knew existed. A more junior officer told me that our interactions, particularly over me cracking open books to learn doctrine, had been a mentoring point of his for the last 15 years. I thought he hated me but he took time out of his day to come thank me. A peer told me the most career defining moment for him was realizing that he was wrong and I was right. He, as a Marine Captain, turned to a Navy Captain and said simply, “Sir, I’ve led you astray. Matt has it right.” His lesson: Courage Always. Lastly, and this was the one that really got me (near to tears mind you) was what one of my former bosses told me after the ceremony. He said simply that I shouldn’t forget my contribution to those I worked for: they wouldn’t be in their position if I hadn’t helped them grow too. Considering he fought his way through two accidents on I-95 that morning just make my remarks during the ceremony when he could have easily blown my retirement off entirely having his aide instead text me something had came up is telling. But it was when he fiddled with collar, pulled his Major General insignia off his collar and handed them to me (with stern “don’t wear them”) that I nearly lost it. I guess I took the kind words from my former battalion CO and also my former MEU CO, now a retired Lieutenant General, in the letters they wrote me too much at face value and failed to realize they aren’t just doing it for good form, they actually mean it.
So, after several glasses of wine over the week, and a couple of scotch, I guess I ought to recognize that yes, I made a difference. Now I need to get off my ass to fulfill my second life goal, raise a family. See if your two boys can fulfill more lines of Kipling’s ‘IF’ than you could. Be the best of men to my wife.
Anyway, those are my thoughts after 21 years of service. Outside of my wife, you are the folks with whom I share this stuff. Thanks for reading.
Semper Fidelis, Matt