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This Recruit: A Firsthand Account of Marine Corps Boot Camp, Written While Knee-deep in the Mayhem of Parris Island
Just before the dawn of the Global War on Terror, Kieran Michael Lalor left his career as a high school social studies teacher, endeavoring to fulfill his lifelong dream. Lalor followed his father and brother's footsteps into the United States Marine Corps. This Recruit presents Lalor's nightly journal entries, beginning with the uneasy trip to the recruiter's office and the eerily quiet midnight bus ride to Parris Island. Lalor describes the wicked combination of fatigue, nerves, disorientation, misery, loneliness, and homesickness that conspire to keep him from his goal-along with the hours of close order drill, push-ups, hand-to-hand combat training, the pit, and the unrelenting mind games. Witness the nasty recruit-on-recruit infighting that results when young men struggle to survive while being pushed past their limits physically, mentally, and emotionally. Gaze at the target from the five hundred yard line on Qualification Day, when failure means at least an extra two weeks on the island and the added humiliation of failing the quintessential test of a Marine. Experience the rappel tower, night firing, the infiltration courses, and long, back-crushing humps. Struggle with Lalor and his platoon as they try to overcome the Crucible, the final obstacle before claiming the title of United States Marine.
- GenresMilitary Fiction
312 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2010
About the author
Kieran Michael Lalor
1 book3 followersKieran Michael Lalor enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in July, 2000. In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, Lalor‘s infantry unit was twice called to active service. He served as a S.A.W. Gunner in Iraq and is the founder of Iraq Veterans for Congress political action committee. Lalor and his wife, Mary Jo, live in Fishkill, New York, with their young children.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 19, 2017
There are many books about the experiences in Marine Corps boot camp out there, and I have been reading a few of them over the last couple months, but most of the other books are either a collaboration of stories by various recruits or written after the fact as a memoir, but Kieran Lalor wanted a different point of view on the story and wrote this while in boot camp, a dangerous task that resulted in a very unique view, as he wrote in the Author's Note, "I wanted to document my experiences as they happened rather than through the haze of retrospect." Lalor also has a different perspective than most recruits in boot camp, as an older 24-year old man compared to the 18 and 19 year olds that make up the majority of the recruits, and he often says that this helped him as he would see the "games" that the DI would be playing and not let it go to his head as he suspected the younger and more Naive recruits did.
The tone of the book is overall positive, and Lalor often keeps his head up about his experiences, knowing that although they may be unpleasant and he may hate them at the time he kept in the back of his mind that these were helping transform him from a man into a Marine. He does write with detail about how much he hated or despised a certain recruit, which DIs he had more respect for, which would have ruined his life at boot camp if his journal was ever caught.
While there are other good book out there about Boot Camp, this one is my favourite so far. The fact that it is a journal written as it happened rather than a Memoir written after the fact gives it a much different and down to earth feel. I would say it is like reading "The diary of Anne Frank", written while it was happening and without further information that they didn't actually know at the time.
In the Amazon kindle version there are 312 pages, and I did notice some spelling mistakes, such as the Globe in Eagle, Globe & Anchor being written as Glove, but the book was very easy to read. While I cannot relate to any of his experiences, it is a very good read for anyone who is curious about what actually happens at Boot Camp, I would especially recommend this book to people looking to enlist.
The tone of the book is overall positive, and Lalor often keeps his head up about his experiences, knowing that although they may be unpleasant and he may hate them at the time he kept in the back of his mind that these were helping transform him from a man into a Marine. He does write with detail about how much he hated or despised a certain recruit, which DIs he had more respect for, which would have ruined his life at boot camp if his journal was ever caught.
While there are other good book out there about Boot Camp, this one is my favourite so far. The fact that it is a journal written as it happened rather than a Memoir written after the fact gives it a much different and down to earth feel. I would say it is like reading "The diary of Anne Frank", written while it was happening and without further information that they didn't actually know at the time.
In the Amazon kindle version there are 312 pages, and I did notice some spelling mistakes, such as the Globe in Eagle, Globe & Anchor being written as Glove, but the book was very easy to read. While I cannot relate to any of his experiences, it is a very good read for anyone who is curious about what actually happens at Boot Camp, I would especially recommend this book to people looking to enlist.
June 26, 2021
Awesome insight
Great book! Makes you feel like you are there. I like the journal style. My daughter just signed up yesterday and ships out in a month for Parris Island. Great information for a parent!
Great book! Makes you feel like you are there. I like the journal style. My daughter just signed up yesterday and ships out in a month for Parris Island. Great information for a parent!
September 5, 2023
Great Book and Insight
This book is a great read for anyone who was a marine or joining up. The author gives a great insight to Marine Corps boot camp.
This book is a great read for anyone who was a marine or joining up. The author gives a great insight to Marine Corps boot camp.
January 14, 2011
As more and more people discover this book, there's going to be a lot of Marines out there kicking themselves, wondering why they didn't think of writing it first. Out of the millions of Americans who have gone through basic training, few have taken the time to painstakingly record their daily experiences. Typically, recruits are focused on just surviving. Somehow, Lalor managed to pull off the impossible at boot camp-- keeping a secret journal under the watchful eye of his Drill Instructors, possibly risking his career.
From the very first pages, this book hit home. Even though my experiences during Navy boot camp weren't the exact same as Lalor's, the similarities are endless. I too was a not-too-young recruit, who had joined the military to allay feelings of guilt and pent-up patriotism. Like Lalor, I knew that friends and family would think I was nuts to voluntarily sign up. At boot camp, my survival techniques were the same as many outlined in this book-- count the days until you go home, try to not take the way you're treated too personally, and remember how proud you'll feel once it's all over.
This book is a must read for two different audiences: First, anyone who has been through boot camp from any branch. You won't realize how much you've forgotten about your own experience until you've read a detailed account like this. Sure, there are plenty of things about your these grueling early days that you'll never forget, but you'll be surprised about how much can come back to you once your memory is jogged. The drill instructors and the fellow recruits that Lalor spent every moment with on Parris Island all reminded me of people I dealt with and trained with at Navy basic training at Great Lakes.
The next audience for which this book should be mandatory is anyone thinking about joining the military, or who is already on his/her way to boot camp. During the first few terrifying minutes, days and weeks of basic, you will want to know how to make your life more bearable. This book will help you, because it will spell out all the dirty tricks, harsh behavior and round-the-clock stress you will be forced to endure. This book will help you understand that success in boot camp is only minimally about how many push-ups you can do, or how fast you can run. Instead, 90% of being successful is keeping your head on straight and learning how to excel while under extreme stress. Knowing what you're up against will give you the perspective that will help you rise to the top of your platoon. This book will give you the insight you'll need.
During your darkest hours on Parris Island (and there will be dark hours), you will thank yourself for having read this book.
From the very first pages, this book hit home. Even though my experiences during Navy boot camp weren't the exact same as Lalor's, the similarities are endless. I too was a not-too-young recruit, who had joined the military to allay feelings of guilt and pent-up patriotism. Like Lalor, I knew that friends and family would think I was nuts to voluntarily sign up. At boot camp, my survival techniques were the same as many outlined in this book-- count the days until you go home, try to not take the way you're treated too personally, and remember how proud you'll feel once it's all over.
This book is a must read for two different audiences: First, anyone who has been through boot camp from any branch. You won't realize how much you've forgotten about your own experience until you've read a detailed account like this. Sure, there are plenty of things about your these grueling early days that you'll never forget, but you'll be surprised about how much can come back to you once your memory is jogged. The drill instructors and the fellow recruits that Lalor spent every moment with on Parris Island all reminded me of people I dealt with and trained with at Navy basic training at Great Lakes.
The next audience for which this book should be mandatory is anyone thinking about joining the military, or who is already on his/her way to boot camp. During the first few terrifying minutes, days and weeks of basic, you will want to know how to make your life more bearable. This book will help you, because it will spell out all the dirty tricks, harsh behavior and round-the-clock stress you will be forced to endure. This book will help you understand that success in boot camp is only minimally about how many push-ups you can do, or how fast you can run. Instead, 90% of being successful is keeping your head on straight and learning how to excel while under extreme stress. Knowing what you're up against will give you the perspective that will help you rise to the top of your platoon. This book will give you the insight you'll need.
During your darkest hours on Parris Island (and there will be dark hours), you will thank yourself for having read this book.
February 6, 2013
I really liked this book. Not many accounts of Marine Corps boot camp were as detailed and informative as this one: now I really know what I'll be getting myself into! Might even buy it just to be able to highlight all the important stuff other books don't tell you (and of course the ridiculous one-liners.
March 12, 2013
I absolutely LOVE this book! I actually read it because my fiancé left for bootcamp June 2012 and graduated September 2012 ( Same time frame as Mr.Lalor) which was hard for me because we had never been separated before. This book helped me understand and learn what my fiancé may be going through stage by stage!
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October 5, 2012Great book to read for anyone thinking about becoming a US Marine and perfect for family members of recruits. Easy to read and helpful information!
August 1, 2013
I did not enjoy this book at all.
April 20, 2018
This book is very well written (especially considering he was in boot camp when he wrote it) It tells all of the events in boot camp in great detail in ways a documentary can’t. Personally the best book I’ve ever read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews