MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C -- Recruits begin learning the importance of Marine history and core values from the moment they step on the yellow footprints.
However, drill instructors are not alone in instilling the importance of Marine Corps history and the moral standards in recruits. The Parris Island Historical and Museum Society also plays a role in connecting the past and the present.
"Our big thing is core values,"said Eric Junger, the training officer for the assistant chief-of-staff G-3, and a member of the society. "We want to make sure recruits leave here with an ethical standard."
The classes always start and end with a lesson on core values. The group also finds ways to pepper examples of core values throughout the entire class.
The group started almost four years ago, when Stephen Price, a former Marine corporal, contacted the museum about an idea to do a living history day.
"The society started as a group of individuals who just wanted to support the museum in its efforts to preserve history and educate,"said Junger, who is also a retired Marine major. "It started because somebody had a good idea. This is the perfect place to have a living history group and to have an impact."
After the first demonstration received positive feedback from drill instructors and recruits, Price arranged to continue the classes.
"I've been doing Marine Corps living history for years, and there are not a lot of events on the East Coast,"Price said. "This is my way of giving back to the Marine Corps for all it has given to me."
Price soon gathered a small band of men interested in bringing history to life.
"I like history, and I have been interested in World War II for a while,"said Cpl. Christopher Cardona, an ordnance technician from the Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533 at MCAS Beaufort. "I saw an article about it in the Jetstream, I made a call, and the next thing I know I am marching in a parade."
Cardona has been a member of the group for about two years and is one of only two active duty servicemembers who participates with the historical society.
Once a month, Price and his fellow historians, dressed in period-specific Marine Corps uniforms, set up their tent on the museum's front lawn, arrange military artifacts dating from early World War I to the Korean War in a"junk on the bunk" display and await the recruits they will be teaching that day.
Once they arrive, the recruits gather around the aged equipment and receive classes and demonstrations on the evolution of Marine Corps uniforms, field equipment and weaponry. Aside from simply showing the recruits how to operate and use the antiques, the historical society members also explain the changes the equipment has undergone and how each change has had a lasting legacy on the way the Corps operates now.
"We show them how to use the equipment and weapons and explain the changes that occurred and how it relates to what we do today,"Junger said. "We always try to emphasize to recruits that they have a legacy and a standard to uphold, and that's what makes us who we are."
At the end of every class, the group always receives positive feedback from recruits and drill instructors, Junger said.
The group also participates in events outside of Parris Island's shores, including local parades and air shows. The society is scheduled to appear on the USS Yorktown in Charleston during November.
The biggest event the group looks forward to every year is a World War II gathering in Reading, Pa., which is the largest World War II event in the United States.
Participants represent everyone from American, German and Japanese combatants to the press corps and medical personnel, and are all required to use and wear only period-appropriate gear at the event.
The group recently returned from their annual trip, which was filled with more excitement than usual. Price"shot down" several Japanese fighter pilots and the group introduced a bazooka at their performance this year.
As for now, the group is still looking for more volunteers to help them bring the Corps'values to life. The society accepts anyone with a desire "to do it right," including current and former servicemembers and civilian history buffs.
Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Parris Island Historical and Museum Society can contact Eric Junger at 228-4786.