Excerpt from The Link, Vol. 29: A Magazine for Armed Forces Personnel; August, 1971 By the time birthday number Six teen rolled around, I felt like I had the world on a string. I thought that I was a man, and intended to prove as much to the world. I had seen the advertisements that the Marine Corps builds men. I was a man, and all I had to do to prove it was join the Marines. T was a mistake. I knew it from the first moment I spent at Parris Island, the recruit depot where the Marine Corps turned boys into men. It was a matter of debate whether or not I was Marine Corps material. I was molded into a combat Marine through no will of my own. I fought the Marines every inch of the way. Just when I had become adjusted to my new life it was discovered that I had forged my father's signature on the enlistment form. I was issued a discharge for fraudulent enlistment. I was lost. I didn't know what to do. I met a girl; I got married. Two years and a son and daughter later, I was divorced. It had been a bad marriage. We were both too young and foolish. Not ready to settle down. I found myself in and out of jail. The only thing that remained the same was my occupation, that of a tractor-trailer driver. I could always manage to make a better than aver age living. I reasoned that since money *was not' an immediate prob lem, there should be no reason for me not to settle down and lead a normal life. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.