By: Jessa Stallsmith

“…It is a proud privilege to be a soldier-a good soldier… [with] discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to comrades and to his superiors, and a self confidence born of demonstrated ability.”

   -George S. Patton Jr.

For many people, joining the military is the plan of action they have decided to follow after high school.

Thaddeus Soboleski was one of the people who chose to join the military. At the young age of eighteen he chose to leave for the Marines. The people he was with were all the same age as him and they all went up to the ranks at the same time and they’re all still good friends.  He started in second Marines which were stationed on a camp in North Carolina. Later on Thaddeus was assigned to ninth marines where he stayed in Okinawa, Japan. He lived in everything from the ground to a tent to living quarters that were like hotels. Thaddeus admitted that he would go back to the Marines in a second during this interview.

Although we don’t have the draft anymore, I asked him about his opinion and if he was for or against drafting.

“I think everybody should serve at least one year in the military, so I’m for it.” Soboleski said.

Thaddeus knew that he was going to be a Marine when he was seven years old after he met a Marine in person wearing dress blues. After that meeting he told his dad that he was going to be one of those guys.

“The Marine Corps is a different breed of people. If you actually join the Marine Corps you want to be there. It’s not like you were drafted, you had to, or you did it for a college fund. The Marine Corps is actually a character thing. You join the Marine Corps, you want to be there.” said Thaddeus.

While being in the Marines, Thaddeus made many close friends that he still sees to this day.  He attends reunions at least two to three times a year and had just gotten back from visiting a roommate from one of the desert storms when I interviewed him. His friend has just gotten promoted to Lieutenant in the state police.

“I see these guys all the time.” said Soboleski. “If I need them, I’ll call them and they’ll be there. They know if they need something they can call me and I’ll be there.”

I asked Thaddeus about his traveling experiences and the things that he did and didn’t like.

“The travel was my most enjoyable experience. I like to travel. I like the tropical. I like the hot. I don’t like the arctic.” Thaddeus stated.

It was no surprise when Thaddeus said that out of all the places he had traveled to, Spain was the most impressive place he had seen.  The only part of being in the Marines that Thaddeus didn’t like was the cold weather. He had been to Norway twice and said that he hadn’t enjoyed it there due to that.  He also mentioned that you get to share a lot of your experiences with a lot of different people from different places.  The overwhelming cultural shock that Thaddeus felt while in the Marines was the poverty in Korea and The Philippines. There had been whole families there that lived in cardboard boxes.

The highest rank that Thaddeus received while being in the Marines was Staff Sergeant E-6. According to Thaddeus this was his biggest accomplishment. Anyone who receives this rank is in charge of being responsible for the welfare, morale, discipline, and efficiency of the Marines in their charge.

“When I was in scuba school my instructor’s last name ended with “ski.” He was always messing with me because I was a “ski” too. I almost failed the first time we were in the ocean, and he gave me a second chance. That was actually in seventy feet of water, taking your mask off, and just breathing through your mouth piece for two minutes. That was hard because I always thought the bubbles would hit me in the nose or that my lungs would fill up with water. I thought, you know, I was going to die. I tried actually getting up and these guys all tried to hold me down. What got me through that part were James Bond movies. I thought to myself “if Bond can do it, I can do it.” I got through that part of the course and later on in the training the instructor came up behind me and ripped off my mask and swam away with it. I was so mad that I actually caught up to him and shut off his air tank in about a hundred feet of water. He was not a happy camper.” Thaddeus said with a chuckle.

I know that while being in the Marines they face a lot of stress and pressure. Some of them are afraid to go fight, but they want to be able to protect the people in the country where they are stationed. I asked Thaddeus if there were any funny moments that maybe helped loosen the pressure and lower the stress that they were feeling.

“I bought a motorcycle from a guy getting deployed out of our unit. It didn’t run, and I had a friend of mine that knew a lot about motorcycles. I put it in my room over the weekend and he took apart my motorcycle in my room. We were cleaning all the parts with gas and the OD which is the officer of the day came in and he busted us out. He said ‘Ski you better have this thing back outside and this room not smelling like gas by Monday otherwise the commanding officer is going to know about it.’ So needless to say we spent all weekend putting together the motorcycle again by Monday. We didn’t get in trouble. That was funny, but it wasn’t funny.”  Soboleski stated.

During his free time Thaddeus spent it working out at the gym. It made him feel more put together and luckier.

Thaddeus obtained many skills in the Marines that he applies to his everyday life. He gained organizational skills and learned discipline and responsibility. Even though he misses his Marine days, Thaddeus is now a successful business owner.

Many students at Fraser High School plan on serving our country after they graduate.

One senior that plans on joining the military is Evan Chevela who is going to become a Navy SEAL.

“I always liked the idea of being the best I can, and I always have been interested in the military, so I decided to go for the hardest and coolest job they have which is the SEALS. I like the idea of protecting others that can’t protect themselves.” Chevela said.

Another senior with the same goal is Hunter Greene, who wants to protect people and is already enlisted to join the Coast Guard.

“I’m a swimmer, it’s in my blood. I don’t want to leave the country. I want to patrol the borders.” Greene said.

Alexis Barnett also wants to join the military. The branch that she wants to go into is the Air Force.

“They have more medical jobs that I can participate in. I want to help other people out around the world and help starving children across the world.” Barnett said.

To these few people their gender does not matter. They all know that they want to help out in any way they can. Some of them have even had this dream of joining the military since they were younger. While there are some frightening aspects to the military, the skills and lessons you leave with are far greater. The feeling of knowing that you were able to help someone in need and protect them is probably the most rewarding part of it all.