by Zavier Ortiz

Created on: September 22, 2008

A Brotherly Fall

My mother was absolutely heartbroken when she found out that my oldest brother was joining the Marines. He was such a philosophical young man with a bright future, and nobody thought that he would do it. He left in the middle of September for basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina. My mother wrote him letters, saying how much she missed him and how he had made a thoughtless decision, but my brother stood strong with his dream. We had no choice but to be proud of what he was doing.

Time seemed to pass a lot slower after he left, but finally, after three months of waiting, it was time for him to graduate and come home for a little while during Christmas and New Year's before being sent to California. My mom started to get really excited after hearing that he was coming home, so she made us pack up and leave immediately.

After fifteen hours of packing and driving, we arrived at his basic training station in South Carolina, eager to find the graduation site. When we finally found it, it took forever to park due to excited and proud parents blocking the streets looking at their children, now men and women, walking in perfect formation into the building. We quickly became a part of that crowd so that we could look for my brother. When we finally found him, my mom started to cry due to the pride welling inside of her for her son.

I was wearing the brightest yellow jacket to show my support for the troops. I was definitely noticed because people all around me kept saying how they should have worn yellow too. When we got inside of the building, we had to look for the handicapped seating all the way in front of everybody. It turns out that the building we were in was a gym of some sort. Behind the handicap seats, there were bleachers that went almost all the way up to the ceiling. As everyone was getting seated, the new Marines stood in formation with their battalion, and despite all the shouts of "Hi!" and "We love you!" the marines had to stay completely expressionless in front of their friends and family.

We took our seats about two minutes before the ceremony began. The commanders announced the flags, sang the National Anthem, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. While they were announcing the graduate's names, my mom whispered to me to trade chairs with her because her chair was too loud. I kid what she told me to so I wouldn't start a commotion. When I sat in my mom's chair, I realized that she was definitely right. The chair would make a

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