MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON -- Recently, I had the honor of going to another safety brief at the base theater to receive the mandatory mass ?holiday safety? lecture. Of course, like many Marines, I considered it to be an inconvenience because of all the work that I had piling up on my desk and all the people I had to interact with to get it done.
After about an hour of sitting there fighting the sleep monster, I was ready to leave, but the powers that be wouldn?t allow me and I was forced to sit there for the driving safety portion.
I expected to hear the same brief that I have been listening to for the past five years. But this portion was different. A California Highway Patrolman came out and shared his story about his partner getting hit by a drunk driver while on a routine call. His partner knew the dangers of being a patrolman and yet dutifully performed what was expected. The sadness in the patrolman?s voice was evident, but he carried on and tried to educate Marines on the tragedies caused by drinking and driving.
It was then the patrolman played a videotape depicting an accident, while the real-life perpetrator relived the experience. Throughout the segment, there were scenes of an accident and the perpetrator explaining what had happened. How he wished he could have turned back the clock to that fateful night and change things. At the same time the victim?s parents spoke on the importance of driving safety.
The father of the victim frequently spoke on the effects the accident has had on him and all the while bared no grudge toward the perpetrator. The drunk driver agreed that the death was pointless and the direct result of his irresponsibility. The clincher of the whole video was that the father of the victim, who happened to be the producer of the video, was interviewing the perpetrator.
When the video ended, Marines throughout the audience were silent, as if in deep thought. But it was the Marines who have children that tried to fight back the tears welling up inside of them. I?m sure several went home to hug their children that evening.
This made me think back to the time that I became a victim of drinking and driving.
I was attending school learning the skills of my trade when one day I picked up a copy of Marine Corps Times and read something that I would never forget.
Two of my friends were involved in a car accident and the culprit was stupidity, bad judgment and alcohol.
The two Marines, ?Lamar? and ?Marlon,? were out driving and having a good time with some girls they had gotten together with earlier in the evening. While they were driving down a quiet, windy, unlit country road, ?Marlon? stopped the vehicle to get out and relieve himself.
For some unknown reason, ?Lamar? jumped into the driver?s side and sped off as a practical joke. Although ?Lamar? had a suspended license, for drinking and driving no less, and was intoxicated, good judgment would have told him it was a bad idea for him to be driving. But knowing ?Lamar,? he probably thought he could see anything in front of him while he had his ?beer? goggles on.
After some time away from ?Marlon,? he turned around to look for him. Meanwhile, some odd miles away, ?Marlon? decided to lay down in the middle of the road as a practical joke. Maybe he thought ?Lamar? would freak out when he saw his buddy on the ground thinking he had been hit or died of a heart attack. Who knows why ?Marlon? did it, but one thing was for sure - the joke would be on ?Lamar.?
Apparently either ?Lamar? wasn?t watching the road or his ?beer? goggles had a smudge on them and as a result he didn?t see ?Marlon.? Before ?Lamar? even knew it, he hit something in the road, which became lodged underneath the vehicle. ?Lamar? had no idea what it was and tried to back up, but couldn?t. When ?Lamar? got of the car he found ?Marlon? underneath. A panic attack came to ?Lamar? and passing drivers stopped to help ?Lamar? lift the vehicle to set ?Marlon? free, but it was already too late.
Those ?beer? goggles of ?Lamar?s? cleared up pretty quickly and he realized what he had done.
?Marlon? was pronounced dead of excessive chest compression and multiple massive traumas. ?Lamar? had to face the trooper and registered a blood alcohol content of 0.09 percent, just one point above the North Carolina legal limit.
?Lamar? was charged with driving while impaired, driving with a revoked license and felony death by motor vehicle.
The tragic part was that ?Lamar? had only a couple of months before he got out of the Marine Corps and started a new life in his home state of Alabama. Instead, his whole life was thrown away in a matter of minutes.
Here were two guys I knew very well and all of sudden a moment of stupidity changed their life and mine.
I went to New Orleans with ?Marlon? for the Thanksgiving holiday awhile back and it was that trip that I learned he joined the Marine Corps because he wanted to make his father proud. He wanted his father to be able to say, ?My son is a Marine.? Believe me, his father was very proud of that fact.
As for ?Lamar,? I occasionally spent time with him and discussed plans for the future. We would often share our dreams and hopes, as we laughed about some good times while in the field.
After coming to terms with the fact of ?Marlon? being gone and ?Lamar? ruined because of bad judgment, I was on the phone with the guys in my old platoon. Everyone was devastated about what happened, but they were all worried about ?Lamar,? because he had to go through the rest of his life knowing he killed one of his buddies.
What was going through their minds on the night of the accident? No one knows.
In the end, ?Marlon? was taken home by the first sergeant and buried with honors, as Marines back at Cherry Point, N.C. tried to get their lives together and sort everything out. Eventually, ?Marlon?s? parents forgave ?Lamar? and pleaded that he be given leniency by the panel during his court-martial.
?Lamar? was shown leniency by the panel and was allowed to finish his term in the Marine Corps. He was given a punishment by the court martial panel, but nothing will compare to the fact that he killed someone because of his irresponsibility and that will be his eternal punishment.
At one time, when all the guys in my old platoon got together, we would all go out and drink the night away. Sharing memories, moments and even promises. One event changed that forever and everyone is a different man in some way.
But the question is, what if we had all changed before the accident? Would ?Marlon? still be alive? Would ?Lamar? be living a productive life in Alabama? Could any of us have prevented what happened?
The answer would most certainly be yes!
How many more Marlons and Lamars have to suffer in order for us, as Marines, to start thinking about the consequences involved with drinking and driving?
If we all take an active role in preventing Marines from drinking and driving, that is one more life we preserve.
After all, aren?t Marines supposed to protect life and stand for what is right?