From the S&S archives: Bombing 'hasn't hurt' Marine recruiting

WASHINGTON — The terrorist bombing in Beirut "hasn't hurt" the Marine recruiting effort, a service spokesman said here Friday.

Despite the more than 200 Marines killed in Lebanon and Grenada, interest in joining the Corps has soared as much as 40 percent in some areas of the United States, the spokesman said.

"We've been bombarded with calls — more than 30 a day — from ex-servicemen of the Vietnam era. We're also getting a lot of calls from people who just got out of the Corps," a Phoenix, Ariz., recruiter said.

"Even retired master gunnery sergeants are requesting to come back in.... The incident in Lebanon hasn't hurt us at all," he said.

"A lot of people are asking about joining, but a lot are not qualified," a spokesman at the Marine recruiting station in Baltimore, Md., said. "Some are too old."

Recruiters in Baltimore, who conducted a poll of their 18 substations throughout Maryland, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Northern Virginia and five counties in West Virginia, said, "It's premature to say how many new recruits have signed up to come in."

A Marine spokesman at the Pentagon said it will "probably be a couple of weeks before we know if there has been any significant increase in the number of nonprior service people signing up for the Corps."

According to press reports, one eager Southern California enlistee, who was asked to list his top three choices for overseas duty, said, "Beirut, Beirut, Beirut."

"Marines, no matter how old they are, are Marines, and we have a tremendous camaraderie," explained Staff Sgt. Vaughn Brotton, who was so disturbed by the 1980 Iranian hostage crisis he quit his corporate vice president's job to re-enlist, United Press International reported.

"If nothing else, they want to talk to another Marine at a time like this," he added.

"Just today I've also had 30 to 40 phone calls from former Marines wanting to reenlist," said Lt. Col. James Bathurst, commander of Marine recruiting in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. "On a normal day I might get one."

The Marine recruiting office in Frankfurt, however, may be missing the rush. A sign on the door Friday informed visitors that the office will be closed until the end of the month.

About 1,700 Marines are involved in U.S. peacekeeping duties in Beirut. Another 2,000 leathernecks went ashore in Grenada Tuesday, defense officials said. The operations mark the service's biggest deployment since the end of the Vietnam War.

The United States' smallest ground fighting force, the Marines total about 198,500. Less than 20,000 are officers, according to Defense Department figures. Including those on duty at U.S. embassies, the Marines have men stationed in more than 25 countries. Currently, less than 2 percent of the force is involved in hostile actions, defense figures indicate.

While many expressed shock at the young age of those killed and wounded in Beirut, more than 135,000 — almost 70 percent of the force — are aged 25 or younger, statistics show.