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Interview USMC
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January 12, 1999
Interview with Michael Curran,
Author of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children
What inspired me? I used to ride the train with a guy that was in the Army.
We used to trade "war" stories about boot camp. He admitted that
mine were more exciting and slightly more bizzare than his. But there was a third guy that
used to ride with us. He had never been in the military and he thought I was making
these things up. Whe he realized I wasn't, he became rather fascintaed with the boot
camp adventures. It was then that I knew other people would find them entertaining.
Why did I write this book? I have a few reasons. I enjoy writing, especially fiction. However, it has been said that it is easier to get non-fiction published. I almost laugh at that statement. But I did have it happen for me. And I wanted to impress all the old nuns that used to knocked my head inside out day after day in grade school. But I knew right away that I had a good idea with this book. Did you have any particular strategy when choosing whom to interview? Yes I did. First of all they had to be people that served in the Corps. Secondly, they had to have been enlisted men .... NO OFFICERS. Their training was different. Did I find them or did they find me? I found them. There was no shortage of people to interview. The place is loaded with people who were in the USMC. But I did try to move around and interview people from all over the metro area. West burbs, south burbs, in the city and the northside, southside, and north burbs. What does the Marine Corps mean to you? As corny as this sounds ... it means to me that if an important objective needs to be completed then the Marine Corps is the group to send. There is a focus that they bring out in you under the most trying of times ... it works. So to me the Marine Corps is a organzation that makes you reach down deep inside and makes you do things you never dreramed you were capable of doing. I enjoyed writing this book. I liked the people I have met and the process on the writing end has been an eye opener. But I am looking forward to moving on and getting my fiction published and my plays performed. Now that would give me a lot of satisfaction.
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