10 Things Former Marines Never Say Out Loud (It Took Me 30 Years to Say Number One)

There is one sentence I did not say out loud for thirty years after I took off the uniform, and when I finally said it, my voice shook worse than the night I stepped off the bus at boot camp. Former Marines talk plenty — the chow, the drill field, the sergeant who could curse for five minutes without repeating himself — but certain words just do not come out of our mouths. This old Gunny spent thirteen years in the Corps, two of them as a Drill Instructor training those words out of young men, and then thirty years finding out what that cost. In this video I count down ten things former Marines never say, from “I’m tired” and “I don’t know” to “it hurts,” “I was scared,” and “I was wrong.” You will hear about the pain chart my wife corrects at the doctor’s office, the sofa I would not ask for help with, the squad leader who stopped by his truck and could not finish his sentence, and the message to an old recruit I typed and deleted twice. Number one is the sentence my father never said to me and I never said to my son, until a driveway after Thanksgiving dinner. If there is a former Marine in your family, call him tonight — he will not say it first. If you served, tell me in the comments which one you have never said out loud; one line is enough, unit and year if you want.