American Veteran

(Marines chanting) When I was in the Marines, they really hammered home one idea; nobody's black or white here. There's no brown. There's no yellow. Everybody's green. Back in Teddy Roosevelt's day, military service was seen as a way to help bind the nation together. He argued that the tent where soldiers all sleep side by side, will rank among the great agents of democratization. And the chaos of bootcamp, though, it can take some time for that kind of thinking to really sink in. We're all in this stressful environment. It's like taking a jar full ants and just shaking it up on them. Have you ever done that as a kid? But they go crazy on each other. -

Cody

I mean, we were all out of our element. We were hand washing our clothes. One guy's in a bad mood. He starts slinging things at other people and that other person happened to be me and I wasn't having it. So we get into a fist fight. That time everybody jumps in. We're all pulling each other apart, but we still had clothes to wash. You know, fist fight and wasn't going to get the clothes washed, right? Those moments are what brought us together. Now is that moment where you realize that it's not so much about you. It's about the team. Get up here. Move, move, move. Alright, now you're going to put four figure eights. -

Brandon

I hated it, but the thing about bootcamp was we all hated it. No one likes bootcamp, and that was somewhat comforting. In each other, we found a sense of community. Way to go! -

Kristie

That's 13 weeks of hell. You have to grow together. And I also think that's the point of bootcamp. You know, they want to break you down so that you have to rely on one another to be successful. Three, two, one. -

Jeff

} There's always going to be somebody to fall out. They doubt themselves. They doubt their own ability, but when you can push, drag, cajole, and encourage somebody to stay in who previously hasn't, that's a big deal for the group. (Marine's cheering)