Saturday, August 4, 2012

Day 4: Camp Lejeune


Our next day was a respite day, which involved no museum or historic visits at all. We did, however, spend the day in a place deeply steeped in tradition, as we toured Camp Lejeune with a friend who is a Marine officer and ate at the Officer's Club on base.

The Marines have always had a keen sense of their heritage and their traditions, and that was evident throughout the base, from the obvious military traditions (we were traveling in an officer's car, and were thus saluted all over the place!) to more subtle things such s the clear and evident pride in generations of Marines displayed nearly everywhere. The Officer's Club in particular was clearly a place where the history of the Corps was celebrated.

I was struck by the obvious appreciation for history while incorporating its lessons into daily life, and by the clear sense of cohesive community. Some of that is clearly a result of intensive military discipline and organization, but I would argue that that shared appreciation for heritage and history is an essential part of it.

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