By Lance Cpl. Jordy Morales
U.S. Marine Corps
MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT PARRIS ISLAND
When one recruit took his place on the parade deck to receive his Eagle Globe and Anchor, it was a moment filled with pride and loss—a hard-won tribute to the mother who inspired him to join the Corps and stood by him in spirit as he became a Marine on Oct. 19, 2024.
“I wanted to enlist to help my mom because she was sick,” Pvt. Nathan Lamb said. “She was the main person taking care of me all 18 years of my life, and I wanted to give her a better life.”
The decision was cemented when he met a Marine recruiter, who like Lamb, also came to the U.S. at a young age and found purpose in the Marine Corps.
“After I spoke with the recruiter, I felt like we were all family in the recruiting station,” Lamb explained. “She told me of all the opportunities the Marine Corps can provide me.”
Leaving for boot camp wasn’t easy. His mother had been battling illness for nearly a year, but she never showed how sick she indeed was.
“When I shipped off, I left her at the hospital, but I thought I’d return, and she would be there. My mom was a fighter,” Lamb remembered. “She didn’t want to worry me.”
During his third week of training, Lamb received devastating news that his mother’s health had taken a turn for the worse.
“It surprised me because her health wasn’t as bad when I left,” he said. “I didn’t expect to get a call telling me she was 48 hours from passing away.”
Although he was allowed to return home, he questioned whether he could continue.
“If my why is gone, why am I still here?” he wondered.
After seeing her for the last time, he returned to Parris Island, determined to fulfill her wish that he become a Marine.
“Before I left, she told me, ‘It’s OK. Make me proud. Be a Marine.’ Coming back after that, I knew I had to finish,” Lamb said. “I had to be ready. I couldn’t let my platoon down by bringing my problems into it.”
Lamb’s fellow recruits provided the support he needed to keep going. They offered him a listening ear, helping him process his grief and stay focused. As he prepared for The Crucible, he knew he needed to compartmentalize his emotions to achieve what he came to do. During the final march to the parade deck, a cadence echoed in his mind.
“Momma, momma, can’t you see, what the Corps has done for me.”
“When I got my Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, I thought of my mom,” Lamb shared, picturing her pride if she could have seen him as a Marine. “It was disappointing knowing the one person who wanted to see me accomplish this mission the most couldn’t be there.”
Looking ahead, Lamb said he will use the Marine Corps’ opportunities to build a better life and continue making his mother proud.
“If I could tell my mom one thing, it would be, ‘I told you I could do it. You don’t have to worry about me anymore — I got it.'”
