Molly Marine 26Feb2014 Plt4007

The city of New Orleans dedicated the first United States monument of a woman in service uniform: “Molly Marine” on 10Nov, 1943.  A local recruiter commissioned the statue to help recruit women during World War II. For female Marines around the world, Molly has come to represent the countless significant contributions women have made to the Corps. She proudly stands for endurance, the book she holds records our history, the binoculars allow her to see into the future and she looks up steadfast facing all that comes her way. Molly has become a symbol of Esprit de Corps for all women Marines. Before graduation from boot camp, the recruits are asked to name one fellow recruit within their platoon who best exemplifies being a Marine. Here, we celebrate our newest sisters.

Marine_Molly

 

Molly Marine

PFC Callahan Brown

P Co, Plt 4007

26 February 2014

 CBrown2

      Being Platoon 4007’s Molly Marine means being a female that embodies the Marine Corps values of honor, courage, and commitment. She cannot settle for mediocre but constantly push herself and those around her to reach their full potential. She must set the example by demonstrating hard work, skill and a sense of duty. Instilling these core values in others is a difficult task to achieve but it needs to start with one, the Molly Marine.

Having courage at recruit training is essential for survival, every single day recruits need to dig deep to find the mental, moral and physical strength to continue. The Molly Marine should be a recruit who constantly shows strength but more importantly brings it out of her fellow recruits. She should excel physically to demonstrate pushing herself and others through the pain. She needs to be mentally tough to show recruits how to reach beyond their mental barriers and limits. For the Molly Marine, having moral strength to do what is right despite fear or peer pressure is essential. She needs to be the definition of courage for her platoon to look up to in times of uncertainty.

Staying committed to Platoon 4007 was not always easy at times but I saw the passion the drill instructors brought each day because of the potential they saw in us so I resolved to do the same and never let my platoon down. The Molly Marine is always helping the recruits around her; fixing gear, making racks, pulling recruits online to make it by the count of one. She will put others before herself at every opportunity that arises. Recruits need to be able to depend on her with any problems they are faced with. During training, recruits would come up to me with the most unusual issues, but I would make it my priority to resolve whatever the problem was. This allowed my fellow recruits to develop a trust in me and create a bond between us. I tried my hardest to show each recruit that I genuinely care about their wellbeing and them as an individual. The Molly Marine needs to be the member of the platoon who is dedicated to making sure the platoon preservers through all obstacles it will face.

Honor is the most important value the Molly Marine needs to embrace. She needs to be brutally honest with her platoon because in the end it will only make them stronger. She must hold herself and others accountable for their actions and inactions. The Molly Marine needs to do what is right, but when she makes a mistake she must take responsibility and learn from it. She is not perfect by any means but strives to be the absolute best she can be. She is not only focused on herself but those to the left and right as well. In order for recruits to listen to her she must gain their respect and she must respect their opinions and beliefs. Honor needs to be depicted at all times for the Molly Marine.

Being Platoon 4007’s Molly Marine is a huge honor. I have learned so many things at recruit training but the most important lessons learned are the values instilled into me by the drill instructors, which I was able to help pass on to the other recruits. Receiving this honor shows me that my fellow platoon members recognized me putting in maximum effort and motivating them to be better each and every day. Now as Platoon 4007 parts their separate ways into the fleet, I hope each recruit takes the values instilled into us and puts them into action.

PFC Callahan Brown

Springfield, VA