Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Once A Marine

Once A Marine

Parrish, R. D.

Paperback

Biographies GeneralMilitary Biographies

ISBN13: 9798235161337
Publisher: R.D. Parrish
Published: Apr 29 2026
Pages: 144
Weight: 0.38
Height: 0.34 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English

ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE: A Memoir of Service and Survival
At sixteen, he struggled to survive above a friend's garage on his own. By seventeen, he joined the Marine Corps in San Diego, seeking discipline and purpose absent from his youth. Boot camp in 1976 was brutal, marked by abuse and loss, but he endured and became a Marine.

His service included surviving violent encounters and harsh conditions, from a gang attack in Phoenix to Arctic Circle war games that almost killed him. Though faced with setbacks like demotion, his resilience earned respect and restoration of rank.

Stationed at Camp Lejeune (1978), he unknowingly drank contaminated water daily-an exposure linked to illness and death among Marines, concealed by the Corps. The memoir details a forty-year battle with disease caused by toxic water, and the struggle for recognition.

His gratitude lies not with the institution that harmed him, but with the identity, camaraderie, brotherhood and purpose that is a Marine.

Once a Marine, always a Marine-even when consequences follow.

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