My Son The Marine Analysis

“My Son the Marine” by Frank Schaeffer and John Schaeffer gives us a look into the life of a mother and father; and their feelings toward their son enlisting into the Marine corp. John had aspirations of joining the military to serve his country. He had spoken to recruiters from the Army, Air force, and the Navy but had yet spoken to the Marine Corp. John was taken by the appearance of the two Marines that visited his home. After he spoke with the Marines he decided that if he was going to join the military he would definitely join the Marine Corps.
In the story, Frank and Genie are John’s parents and are confused and concerned about their son wanting to enlist in the military. John spoke with recruiters from all the branches of service except

He buys a book by Thomas E. Ricks called Making the Corps; it’s a day by day account of the Marine basic training which he follows daily. Frank thought was “Did he have it in him to become a Marine?”(554) He knew that his son’s idea of a good time was to sit in front of the fireplace and rereading his favorite books. Franks worst fear would be that his son would fail and not accomplish his dream of becoming a Marine. That fear was short lived and his son had graduated from basic training and became a Marine. He was very proud of his son becoming a Marine he knew that they had a purpose and it was “the defense of our country and the loyalty to the Corps.”(554) Two year later his son was selected to represent his platoon as “Marine of the Quarter”(554) an honor for any Marine; the date was September 10, 2001. On September 11, 2001 the towers came down in New York City as the world watch. Frank was afraid for his son and just wanted “to hold onto his son for dear life.”(554) John reassured his father and told him” All you have to do with yourself is worry.”(554) Frank knew his son had a job to do and was frustrated that he could do nothing. He watched on television as first responders and military personnel tried to find survivors. He felt proud of his son for being in the military and could look the other “men and women in uniform in the eye”(554) because his son