Perspective: Proud families, friends cheer men becoming Marines

SAN DIEGO — Lynann Edkin of Muscatine, Iowa, scanned the young Marines a hundred yards or so away on the parade deck. All were very young and dressed in the same uniform.

Edkin was looking for her son, David Knowles, 20. The last time she had seen him was when he had left for boot camp 13 weeks earlier. Now it was graduation day.

In all, a dozen of Knowles' family members stood searching for him, most wearing bright red Marine Corps T-shirts and sweatshirts.

Finally, Edkin picked Knowles out among his fellow graduates of Alpha Company. He was thinner and a lot more serious looking.

"He looks like he needs a hug from his mom," Edkin said.

Forty-four weeks each year, in a quintessential San Diego ritual, thousands of families travel to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot to watch their sons, brothers and loved ones become Marines.

For more than eight decades, young men have been coming here to see if they are tough enough to be Marines.

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