Cpl Lyubov Shtrigel, U.S. Marine Corps (2009-2013)

No one from my family approved nor even believed in me when I signed up for the Marine Corps in late spring of 2008 right around the time the recession hit. As a matter of fact, when it came time to attend the monthly poolie sessions in order to prepare me for bootcamp, my dad adamantly refused to take me there and wouldn’t budge no matter how much I pleaded with him. At that time I had no means of transportation and had just relocated to NC from CA after losing my 3 year job because the company I worked for had filed for bankruptcy. My dad stated that he was not going to contribute to his daughter’s death and that is what he believed would happen to me if I joined the military. His idea of the military was the one he was forced to enlist in 50 years prior as a Ukrainiaan in the Russian army where there were days the soldiers had nothing to subsist on but raw onion and stale black bread, not to mention so many other horrors he experienced there as well. Trying to explain the difference to my dad between his forced service in Russia half a century ago to my voluntary desire to serve in the United States was like talking to a brick wall, literally impossible. However, rather than giving up, I wanted to prove to him, to all of them, that I was my father’s daughter through and through and was made of harder stuff than what they thought I was made of…that I had what it takes to become a Marine and it was not going to necessarily end with my untimely death. Because when theres a will, there is a way, and I found that way. 

My recruiter would pick me up and drop me off to and from my poolie sessions although it was completely out of his way and the drive was at least an hour long. I remember his name: Sgt Little, but there was nothing little about him. He had a very big heart and I am still thankful to him. I had 8 months to prepare via these poolie sessions, and not once did any of my family members show support. Of any kind. They didn’t even want to hear about it. They said that the military was no life for a traditional Christian Russian girl and thought that I should settle down, get married and raise children like all my other siblings. But i had made up my mind. 

Boot camp finally arrived, and after 3 months of training, I was at the point of graduating from recruit to the ranks of the privileged few, the proud, the United States Marine. I informed my family that I really hoped that one or two of them would find the time in their busy lives to make that 6 hour drove from Charlotte, NC to Parris Island, SC to attend my graduation but absolutely held no hope in that regard. I was really surprised and delighted when not only one, not even two, but all of them arrived. Everyone. That same day, my dad told me that no one believed I would pass boot camp and that I would ultimately fail. But my dedication, determination and perseverance proved all of them wrong and he was finally proud of me. This photo shows how happy I was. All of them coming meant so much to me that I cried.

There were times in bootcamp that I was on the very verge of giving up and most of those times were mainly due to the fact that I had no support from the people so close and dear to me. I remember one day during rifle qual week when I was almost kicked out of my platoon. I thought it was inevitable because I was the recruit who fired not once, not even twice, but three times after the “cease fire” alert was made. That was grounds for instant disqualiffication. However much to my astonishment and surprise, my senior drill instructor who I thought hated me (that attitude was part of their mental uniform to recruits but I still felt like she hated me more than the others) said that she had fought for me against the wishes of the range instructors because she thought i was an example of a good recruit. That is great praise indeed coming from the ones that never praise but always criticize and rebuke. But even more so, she said her decision was cinched when she had taken a look at my rifle range book, the one where we had to mark our notations on wind distance velocity and put down the appropriate iron sights for our M16’s, and saw that it was completely and diligently filled out, not only with the necessary notations, but also military related doodles and quotes and my hopes and aspirations that really touched her. She said that the author of that book had won her heart. Just like she, the amazing senior drill instructor SSgt Cordova, had won mine. After that, I never once entertained the notion of quitting. In a moment when I thought no one in the world believed in me, she did, and she made me believe in myself, too. I dont know a lot of things, even now, 15 years after that fateful day in bootcamp, but what I do know is to never scoff or look down on someone else’s hopes, dreams and aspirations and to give your support to that person 110 percent even if you disapprove. To be happy for them. To cheer them on and say “you got this! I have faith in you!” It means a lot. It means a million. It meant the world to me. Even if I received my family’s belief in me at the very end. Better late than never. And SSgt Cordova’s belief in me just when I was on the verge of breaking and giving up, gave me that push forward and the strength and determination to hold on with everything I had and to continue, to go on and make my dream a reality and to never look back.

Read the Military Memories of our Runner-Ups.