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Recruit Paul R. Athanas puts in some extra physical training in his Kilo Co. squad bay at the 3rd RTBn. Tuesday night. Leaving a lucrative construction career behind, the Boston native initially wanted to quit before excelling through recruit training.

Support of family, SDI motivate Kilo Co. recruit through training

Submitted by: MCRD Parris Island
Story Identification Number: 20031131794
Story by Cpl. Virgil P. Richardson

MCRD PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.(January 10, 2003) -- Regardless of what your recruiter tells you, there's nothing anyone can do to prepare you for the reality of boot camp. While some make the adjustment more smoothly than others, everyone who graduates and becomes a Marine is greatly changed during his or her time in recruit training. For recruit Paul R. Athanas of platoon 3002, Kilo Co., 3rd RTBn., making the transition from civilian to Marine was one he almost couldn't make.

"The adjustment was unreal," said Athanas through his thick Bostonian accent. "I was cut in half - destroyed as a person. Any doubt a recruit or self-respecting man could have was running through my head non-stop." "The boy hated us yelling all the time," said Staff Sgt. Thurman R. Lofton, Athanas' senior drill instructor. "He was on the verge of being sent home until things started turning around for him."

"I'm a grown man, and I hated having someone tell me I only had a few seconds to shave," said Athanas. "On top of missing my family, I've always been in control. I couldn't take the stress of being yelled at."

Many wonder why a union sprinkler fitter making nearly $40 per hour in the booming construction area of metropolitan Boston would give it all up to join the Corps.

"Like every American, I was [angry] after Sept. 11," said Athanas. "As a blue collar worker, my first instinct was 'let's go kill these guys,' but I had to think it through a bit first."

While anger over the terrorist attacks was the motivating factor that led Athanas towards the Corps, his dedication to duty and a sense of purpose was the ultimate deciding factor.

"I had two uncles who went with the Marines to Vietnam, and only one came home," said Athanas. "I'm not 18, and I don't have four or five years to decide what I want to do with my life, and I never wanted to regret not serving my country."

The drastic turnaround Athanas went through began one evening as he lay awake in the rack.

"Training was hard from the beginning," he said. "But when you hit the rack at night, you wonder how your family is, and what they're doing. I slowly started to realize I came here for a reason."

The realization that the Marines are about more than yelling and timed shaving came with the help of his fellow recruits and his drill instructors, said Athanas.

"Through the help of my platoon and especially the help of my senior drill instructor, I realized that everyone was missing their family and we came here to do something and I was going to do it," he said. "These recruits are the closest thing to family you have here, and the senior drill instructor was an awesome father figure."

Family support is something Athanas brought with him to Parris Island. His long-time girlfriend at first thought his decision to join was a joke.

"She didn't believe me at first," said Athanas. It was hard for us both, but she tells me how proud she is of me, and she supports me 100 percent."

Athanas produced a laminated photo of his girlfriend out of his cammies that he kept with him all through recruit training.

Written on the back was a message from his girlfriend-a goal they shared from the day he left beantown: "January 10. I Love you."

With two uncles that served in Vietnam, Athanas said his mother was the hard-sell in the family.

"My mother had a brother who died in the Corps, so me joining was hard for her, but she tells everyone who will listen how proud she is of me. She's my biggest fan."

Having fully transitioned into one of the few, the proud, Athanas looks forward to returning to his Hyde Park, Mass., home to share memories with family and friends of the biggest and best decision he ever made. A decision he almost didn't see through to the end.

"As soon as I get home, I'm gonna invite all my family and friends over to hear how they felt while I was gone," he said "Then I'm gonna eat. I'm gonna eat a lot. My mother's Italian and she makes a killer meat sauce."