The ideation behind delayed enlistment...........was a minor...........i was in high school at the time.....in my senior year at Gar - Field high in Woodbridge, Virginia.........was that many recruits were not making it through boot camp.............and they were dropping out............so they decided that teaching to be recruits...........Marine type of stuff before boot camp........the attrition rate would be less.........more people would make it through......

So the Marine recruiter visited our house.............and my parents/guardians signed the papers b/c i was a minor at the time.............i would not go to boot camp until after 18......when i was an adult.....but i signed to be enlisted in the USMC and do four years as a minor......but a minor cannot sign such things.......so i had to get my guardian's permission.....

I set my enlistment as September........high school gets out in June in Virginia........i wanted to take the summer off.......so i went to Rehoboth Beach........like every summer........................i was burned out after graduating high school........and i figured 4 years in the USMC would be tough........and a couple of months to start my adult life would not hurt...