Understanding Marines

Though members of the USMC are usually self-selected volunteers, there is also a cul­tural process of socialization that all Marines must endure. Marines are made, broken, and reformed in the following ways: through physical exertion; value change; training through the harnessing of emotion; acceptance of personal and professional challenges; rank and organizational connection at the expense of personal disconnection; and an in­tense pursuit of trained physical perfection and sacrifice.

Joan Borysenko (1987) in her book Minding the Body, Mending the Mind has rea­soned that “men in general are less accustomed to recognizing their emotional states than women since in many families men are rewarded for hiding their feelings—appearing strong and imperturbable” (Borysenko 1987: 164). While this might be true in some in­stances, it is not necessarily the case in the Marines. Organizational expectations and the organizational culture play a significant role in the appropriateness of certain kinds of emotional expression.

Some of the men in these accounts describe the feelings of being “pumped up” be­cause they were able to run after having sustained a severe stress fracture. Others de­scribe the lack of feeling and emotional sensations after witnessing and participating in particular types of pain-giving and war. And still others articulate their feelings of shame and inadequacy over not being able to physically perform. They felt that they had let their buddies down. Many did not feel as if they were really full Marines. Thus the con­text of the Corps, with its strong emphasis on masculinity, male Marines, and infantry­men in particular, are expected to stoically bear the pain and appear strong for their bud­dies and for the mission.