The past week, I heard people putting OCS down saying that they would rather have been doing their paid vacation than running through the mud[dy water] and getting yelled at. But I am fully prepared to tell them that OCS is not about suffering for six weeks straight...well, it is, but there is more to it than that.
Of course there is suffering involved at OCS. They want you to suffer so that Candidates and future Marines can look into themselves and find that through the suffering, through the pain, and through the thoughts running amok that it can't be done, the Marines find a way. Through all of the adversity, the Marines use their will and strength to overcome and succeed. That is what makes us great. That is why we are sadistic and put ourselves through hardship.
We gladly run distances no one else will, do the dirty jobs, and get messy for someone else all because that is part of being a Marine. Self-sacrifice just because it needs to be done. And if you cannot see that in those who proudly wear the uniform, then you are missing something within and will never be able to see it until you have worked hard for anything.
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. It is what we work hardest for that we hold dearest to our hearts." Thomas Paine
