By Lance Cpl. Michelle Brudnicki, USMC
More than 22 years ago, Lt. Col. Matthew A. Lamb graduated recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego with India Company, Platoon 3069. Now, on Oct. 7, his son Hayden M. Lamb, graduated with India Company, Platoon 3069 at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
Lt. Col Lamb, who currently serves as the Recruit Training Regiment Executive Officer, could not be more proud of his son.
“He didn’t want anything to come back on me,” Lt. Col. Lamb said. “He was very cognizant of the fact that the staff knew who his father was, but he didn’t want the recruits making that connection or anyone else. He just wanted to be Recruit Lamb, and I really admire him for that.”
Lt. Col. Lamb went on to explain how his son was fully committed to earning his own title just like any other recruit. His son did not want to cut any corners on his recruit training experience.
“Never once did he reach out or do something a recruit shouldn’t do,” Lt. Col. Lamb said assuredly. “He was all about being a recruit, and I was the regimental executive officer, not ‘dad.’”
Pfc. Hayden Lamb has been a part of the Marine Corps family his entire life, and has always had a desire to earn the title for himself. Growing up around Marines, he has seen Quantico, San Diego, the Pentagon, and Parris Island throughout his childhood, prior to coming to recruit training.
Pfc. Lamb, though proud of his lineage, wanted to forge his own path. He was granted a legacy waiver and was able to attend recruit training on Parris Island instead of at San Diego, despite shipping from Indiana. He did not want to go to recruit training in the same place his father did, he wanted to start his legacy on Parris Island.
“I wanted it to be my title that I earned,” Pfc. Lamb emphasized. “Not just given to me because my dad’s a lieutenant colonel.”
This worry stuck with Lamb throughout his recruit training experience.
“I remember at the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor ceremony asking myself over and over “Did I really earn it?’” Pfc. Lamb said earnestly. “And while my dad was the one to give me my EGA, my senior drill instructor got to me, and he didn’t have any emblems left, but he turned to me and he said ‘You earned it, don’t ever let anyone tell you differently,’ and for me that was the affirmation in my heart that I truly did it.”
Pfc. Lamb said he is getting to realize a dream he’s been waiting on for years – to follow in his dad’s footsteps. However, he said he is going to make that dream his own.
“I’ve always wanted to be a Marine, ever since I can remember,” Pfc Lamb said. “For me, it’s basically been 18 years of waiting, and now I finally have it. I know I’m nowhere near done and that I have so much more to do and prove, but it’s just so fulfilling for me. Everything I’ve ever wanted is now happening.”
For the Lambs, the bond they share will forever go beyond their relationship as father and son. They will be brothers in arms.
“Having that connection, not just being father and son, but both being Marines and having that common bond of being India Company Platoon 3069, it’s something we’ll talk about until the end of our days,” Lt. Col. Lamb said with a smile. “Because I don’t think there’s many other instances of a father and son being able to share in that level and depth of a relationship. It’s really pretty cool.”
