The corporal locked me inside a holding cell on the Marine base I was about to command, and my brother Glenn smiled at me through the bars.Support Veterans
Discover more
Support Veterans
Locate Inmates
Find Police Jobs
“I told you they’d figure you out,” he said.
I didn’t answer him.
A few minutes later, the officer of the day walked into the hallway carrying a folder of paperwork, glanced through the bars out of routine, and stopped so suddenly that even Glenn noticed the change in him.Locate Inmates
That moment had actually started hours earlier, with a decision that had seemed simple enough at the time.
I’d arrived at the installation in civilian clothes on purpose, because I wanted to see the place before anyone had a chance to polish it for my benefit. No escort waited beside my car when I pulled up outside the main gate. There was no convoy, no formal reception line, no carefully rehearsed row of officers standing by ready to tell an incoming commander exactly what they thought she wanted to hear. I wanted the ordinary version of the base — the version that existed on a Tuesday when nobody important was supposed to be watching. I wanted to see how the gate actually ran on a regular morning, hear how Marines spoke to each other when they didn’t think a general was listening, get a real feel for the place before ceremony and pressed uniforms changed the whole atmosphere of it.
