Marines and Identity Signals
January 4, 2025 is the 60 th anniversary of my arrival at Marine Corps Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina for the onset of a 4-year USMC active enlistment. In thinking about that, I reflect upon the fact of my lingering Marine identity, and what it might suggest about identities in general. Let’s start with my, admittedly bizarre, experience in Spain when vacationing there a few years ago. The incident occurred while I was waiting for a bus at a crowded stop. A stranger with a heavy Scottish accent walked up to me and said, “You were a Marine.” In total shock, I asked, “How did you know?” to which he replied, “I worked as a civilian on a Marine base for 20 years. You all wear your hat the same way.” I never had thought about hat-wearing as significant or even noteworthy. At the time, mine was a plain baseball cap with no logo or words whatsoever. My best guess is that the distinctive feature was do to the facts that I wore the hat tight to my ...