MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Two members of the Drill Instructor Association spent their time April 10 ensuring that some spit and polish and a few new bricks made the Depot's Drill Instructor Monument sparkle almost as if it were new.
The national president and the Parris Island Chapter president of the Drill Instructor Association took time out of their day to ensure the monument that stands as a testament to the time and hard work that drill instructors give everyday does not look tattered and torn.
"We are going to facelift this whole thing," said Vic Ditchkoff, National Drill Instructors Association president, who with the help of the Parris Island Chapter President, Lee Van Sweringen, cleaned up the monument. "We are going to have this thing cleaned up before the Drill Instructor Association Reunion."
The association cleans the monument every year, but has limited access due to family and graduations on most weeks.
They added 30 newly-inscribed bricks, revitalized the lettering in the stone behind the statues with a fresh coat of paint and applied a healthy dose of cleaner, which renewed the statues and the walkway that has stood on Parris Island since 1999.
Famous names such as Krulak and Puller, alongside less well-known ones such as Lucky or Smith, adorn the bricks that lead up to the statue of the male and female drill instructors.
The duo replaced the blank faced bricks with new ones that have been purchased usually in the name of a dear friend or family member who served aboard the Depot as a drill instructor.
The monument stands as a reminder of the drill instructor's dedication to duty; and according to Ditchkoff, the drill instructors will always be the heart of the Marine Corps legacy.
"Marines win battles," he concluded, "and that ability starts right here."