Marine Corps Stories: That’s Why I Say

“So I can say I pray to….” Lance Corporal Jackson “Jack Bo” Boseman said.

“You can say whatever you wish about your faith,” Corporal Yalla Powell said. The two Marines shuffled to Sunday morning chapel.

“And we can say….” Boseman said.

“There is this man who allegedly died for us, and saved us from our sins, but I wouldn’t call him….”

“Exactly.”

“Why?”

“There’s been an overhaul. There’s still prayer, Marines can continue to worship whomever or whatever they want and the number of Navy chaplains has not diminished. In fact their numbers have increased. It’s just that Marines don’t pray in formation anymore. I’m actually trying to get away from it all, though.”

“Really?”

“Seriously,” Yalla said.

“Why?”

It is the wrong way to go. With what you have, and what I’m trying to get rid of is this emphasis on not thinking about things. Before I eat, I say words over food; Is this thinking? Before and after I get up and go to bed, I say words; Why? To whom? For what? They never alter anything. But if you ask someone within our sphere, about to be just yours between us, they’ll say the highest had a plan, whether it’s positive or negative, and He wins no matter what. If everything goes well, we say, ‘Oh, won’t He do it!’ But if something bad happens, we say, ‘I have sinned and deserve this punishment,’ even if no wrongdoing was done on our part.”

“This Marine Corps mandate might just prove to be something well-planned,” Boseman said.

“You’re really ready to make the leap?”

“I mean, the way you put it is truly having an effect on me, and oh my...I feel, no I think I will never finish the phrase the same way ever. Now, I would have to change my whole life.”

“I say I’m leaving the ideas of my youth behind. I’m committing to a negative, but it cancels out another negative.”

“Go—?” Boseman asked.

“Don’t say it. You’ll get closer to the irrational by just uttering the name.”

They walked through the various archways to their destination. Officers passed by and the two lower ranked Marines saluted them with precision and respect.

“So, it was the Commandant who ruled this?” Boseman asked.

Yalla sighed. “Yes. She has, however, stated the Corps will not stop Marines from engaging in whatever faith they wish. I think she made the right decision. I don’t believe in Jes—, I caught myself this time, I don’t have faith in the mystical anymore.”

“You going to chapel is just a tad ironic,” Boseman said.

“You deciding to go against what you were raised with is the ultimate sign of leaning to your own understanding,” Yalla said.

They came closer to the chapel doors.

“I just don’t understand how I could believe all of the fallacies for so long. The tales were far-fetched to say the least, but I just went along with everyone as if there were some group brain I was connected to. I wanted to believe so hard. I honestly did. But by talking to you, I’ve got to be able to see my mistakes.”

“They’re errors in knowledge though, Bo,’” Yalla said.

“I don’t think we had the right frame of mind to fight against it.”

“It’s a nothing,” Yalla said. “It’s like a dog with a loud bark that rolls over seeking a belly rub once you actually figure out how it’s nothing threatening or real,” Yalla said.

Both the NCO and the lance corporal walked up to the chapel doors. They met with the chaplain.

“Good morning, corporals. This is the day He has made. Will you both be glad in it?”

They looked at each other, performed an about face and kept walking back to the barracks.