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 TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -
Sgt. Maj. Scott Cooper (photo left) reflects on his 22 years in the
Marine Corps...
I got my first job when I was 11 at a
little surf shop. I made a dollar an hour plus free pizza. I grew up
with pretty much just my mom so this family gave me a job to sort of
keep me out of trouble.
I was never really into conventional
sports. Growing up, I did BMX, dirt biking and freestyle. I also
skate boarded and I surfed. I did all of those things practically my
whole life.
I also worked making t shirts later on and the
next thing you know, I'm making jerseys of my favorite motor cross
riders like Jean-Michel Bayle, Jeff Ward and Ricky Johnson. I
thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I always thought I
was right, and maybe that's something I never quite got rid of, but
I'm at least a lot more patient now.
I worked for my wife's
dad as a handyman for a camp at United Methodist Church in Mission
Hills. I worked a lot with my hands and it was only 10 minutes away
from the beach so for a guy like me it was perfect.
I
admired her family so much. I guess you could say her father was
kind of like a dad to me but kind of had more of a competitive
rivalry. He's like the master of all trades. He always said that it
was good to know a little about a lot of things.
When I think
back, it's kind of funny. There was this kid in high school named
Chris, and he'd always have the high-and-tight and the red poolee
jacket and we thought, “Dude, what a dork.” So, I never thought I'd
be in the military. I wanted to get in to construction because
that's what my buddies were doing.
I owe it all to my
recruiter, Sgt. Sullivan, and I think my mom for calling him. He
chased me down relentlessly. He even called my work and eventually,
he finally cornered me and he goes, “Hey! Hey you! You had an
appointment with me.” He told me that since I made a commitment to
talk to him, that I needed to step up and do that. So, I did. I
don't know what my life would have been like if he hadn't been so
persistent.
I'm an engineer by trade and initially I joined
for the job. I had no idea what the title was but at some point, I
really got the Marine part of it and I fell in love with that.
One of the turning points was probably in my first unit, when I
was running up cardiac and they just gave me the guidon and said get
up front. I didn't ask for it and kind of didn't want it, but they
said, “Cooper, get up front with this next to the (Commanding
Officer) and I don't even know how it happened but suddenly, I
became the guide for Bravo Company, 3rd (Light Armored
Reconnaissance Battalion.) I thought to myself, “I'm the freakin'
welder. How the hell am I up here in the front of an infantry
platoon?” It just hit me like a ton of bricks
Right around
the time I was coming to the end of my first enlistment, a Master
Gunnery Sgt. Jana brought be in and said, “Cpl. Cooper, you do a
damn good job. You should stick around.” Honestly, I think it was
because someone had believed in me that I kept going.
My mom
and my wife were always my biggest supporters. Every enlistment,
they told me that they liked what I was doing and how proud they
were of me.
My wife is such a sweetheart and she doesn't get
caught up with rank. Her theory was that she's not in the Marines;
her husband is but she is not. I think that when you get up there in
rank, you sort of get caught up in the lifestyle and it's almost
like they are serving in the military too. There's a way you can
balance it all and it's tough, but now I'm coming home.
I
have a 13-year-old son, an 18-year-old daughter, and a 20-year-old
daughter. My 20-year-old is out of the house and she has a son. I
got them all into dirt biking from the time they could balance on
one. My daughters both did it and my son, Kirby, is actually better
than I am now.
They're going to be tired of me when I retire
and I'm going to be glad. The words stay-at-home dad have actually
come up and stay-at-home grandpa.
Cpl. Cooper certainly
wasn't perfect but I had a good work ethic and a respect for the
institution and I didn't ever mistake what the Marines Corps'
mission was. That was to be ready to fight whenever the nation
called and whether that meant you got recalled off your honeymoon to
go to Desert Storm or you missed Christmas to go to Somalia it's
just what you had to do.
The Marine Corps gave me an
opportunity to grow up and be a part of something. It's been a great
ride. There have been a few bad days but it has all been worth it.
By USMC Cpl. Lauren Kurkimilis
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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