Free Republic

Levi Shirley wanted nothing more than to be a Marine. In high school, he taught an informal class on Marine Corps history at the recruiting office a few miles from his house and worked out with the men posted there. His mother Susan was less excited. Her ex-husband did three combat tours in Vietnam that still haunted him. She didn’t want that for Levi. At 23, he certainly looked like a Marine: 6 foot 5, rangy with thick brown hair. The problem was his eyesight. Susan put $4,500 on a credit card — many weeks pay at the glass factory...

A MARINE AS SEEN BY . . . Himself:A handsome, buff, highly trained professional killer and female idol who carries a finely honed K-Bar, wears a crisp 8-point cammie cover and is always on time due to the absolute reliability of his Seiko digital watch. His Wife:A stinking, gross, foul mouthed lovable bum who arrives back at home every few months with a seabag full of dirty utilities, a huge Seiko watch, an oversized knife, a filthy hat and hornier then hell. Headquarters Marine Corps:A drunken, brawling, HMMWV-stealing, woman-corrupting "cumshaw artist" who wears a Seiko watch, an unauthorized K-Bar and...