An Optimistic Sky | The Story of Bryan William Stewart
YOUNG MARINES
We started with the young Marines program in about 2000. We had a lot of fun with the program and a lot of very fond and funny memories. One of the
highlights of our time with the Camp Johnson Young Marines was our visits to
Paris Island South Carolina. That is the Boot Camp where civilians are made
into Marines (Ohhhhh raahhhh!).
The visit to Paris Island allowed the children and adult volunteers to
experience the culture of Marine Corps boot camp in an up close and personal way. I recall it as quite the culture shock for one and all!
Every one of our Monday night meetings with the Camp Johnson Young Marines was always was something of an 'adventure'. Admittedly they were reoccurring logistical and administrative struggles but they were fun none the less. For me and I’ll speak for Bryan and Angela and say that it was a joy for us all to interact with the children and volunteers.
One of our reoccurring things was we would stop at McDonald's on the way
home and get a cheeseburger meal and sodas. A quick funny story, I recall
giving Chris Cameron, who was one of Bryan's Young Marine buddies some money to go into McDonald's and get food along with Bryan and Angela. Somehow I had forgotten about getting the change, and as I was going down the road it hit me that I never got a chance to get the change and Chris was in the backseat, I said hey Chris where is the change? And he said very sheepishly, ‘oh you want your change back?’ Bryan and Angela used to laugh about that one all the time.
Sergeant Major Hill was a very unique and colorful individual. He was the
commanding officer of the Camp Johnson Young Marines. He loved the children
and loved leading Marines even the little ones. I used to say that there was
very little difference between Marines and Young Marines beside their age
and size.
Sergeant Major Hill was a Korean and Vietnam War veteran. He was a
physically large man and very gruff. We all learned very early in our
interaction that his bark was way worse than his bite.
Bryan and Angela and I used to always kid each other about the fact that Sgt
Maj Hill, when in ‘Sergeant Major mode’ would threaten to take away their
Boot Camp ribbon if they didn't show up for a particular event.
One of the things that we used to always observe about the program was the
fact that during a regular meeting you were hard-pressed to get more than a
dozen children to come out and participate. Amazingly, all of the children
and parents used to find out about the special events like swimming or
bowling or something else and then of course as human nature and would
dictate, they were coming out of the woodwork, there would be children that
showed us saying that they were Young Marines and The staff could not
identify them!
I recall thinking that, given his relative interest in para-military (Young
Marines), Bryan would attend either Texas A&M or Virginia Military
Institute, (VMI). Outside of his interest in the Young Marines, Bryan had
not really picked up on an interest in the military. I never really had a
desire for him to join the Marine Corps, nor would I have attempted to
influence him but it would have been pretty cool.
I did not ever get the sense that Bryan wanted to join the Marine Corps, but he admired the Marines, and appreciated my career and his opportunity to be exposed to the Marines.
