Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-07-24
Tells 1t to q Marine

] els II 10 q marine
On July 10. in connection
with the current trial of Sergt.
Matthew McKeon, you re-
ported the comments of a
Princeton alumnus who had
received his basic training at
Paris Island. Anonymous by
his own choice, this ex-Marine
is alleged to have claimed that
"he learned more as a boot
than he had learned at Prince
ton"
What a man gets out of
any educational experience,
whether at Princeton or at
Paris Island. is directly re-
lated, of course, to what he
puts into it. And what a man
chooses to put into any expert
ence obviously is subject to
the individual factors of his
own personality. 1t would be
unfair, however, both to
Princeton and to the Marine
Corps, to suggest that the
type of training provided by
the one is superior to that
offered by the other. Though
both seek to instil a sense of
discipline in the human ma
terial with which they deal,
their fundamental aims, no less
than their techniqueS, are
radically different, thus defy
valid comparison. The only
common element is an orien-
tation towards quality rather
than quantity.
1.-THE justification for a uni
versity," Alfred North White
head has argued, sis that it
preserves the connection be-
tween knowledge and the zest
for life, by uniting the young
and the old in the imaginative
consideration of learning !.
its task is to weld together
imagination and experience"
Now this emphasis on imagina-
ton, no less than on knowl-
edge, marks a clear dividing
line between Princeton and
Paris Island-though not, I
should hope, between Prince
ton and Quantico. nor, the
Nation should hope, between
Princeton and Fort McNair.
The aim of boot" training
at Paris Island, on the other
hand, is to infuse the knowl-
edge impaired not with indi-
vidual imagination but with
collective unity of purpose.
Only by development of an
esprit de corps that over
shadows, even displaces, indi-
viduality can one explain. as
Ardant du Picq observed. "how
men who know how to die
without flinching, without
turning pale, really strong in
the presence of the enemy,
but without discipline, without
solid organization. are van
pushed by others individually
less valiant, but firmly, jointly.
and severally knit into a
fighting unit" While the
training at Paris Island can
not change a mans basic
character, it may enable him
to suppress his fear for the
few additional minutes that
often mark the difference in
combat between defeat and
victory.
The nature of the discipline
implicit in the training offered
at Princeton is individual dis
cipline: The discipline to in
hibit a man from acting on
imagination without knowl-
edge or on knowledge without
imagination. The nature Of
the discipline explicit in the
training provided at Paris
Island is collective discipline:
The discipline to inhibit a man
from acting other than in
concert with the will of the
organization. The disciplinary
techniques employed at Paris
Island may not. again in the
words Of Du Picq. make an
outstanding leader. But, ex-
cept in case Of utter incapacity,
they will keep him from en-
tirely failing in his task, from
making absurd mistakes" And
in the lower military echelons
acting on knowledge without
imagination is less dangerous
than acting on imagination
without knowledge. At the
higher echelons, as in the in
dividual life Of a man, either
may have tragic consequences.
But Paris Island is not a
training school for the higher
echelons. Still less is it a
training school for individual
development.
BY confusing the different
objectives at Princeton and
Paris Island, the anonymous
man whom you quoted shows
an inadequate appreciation Of
the training he received at
both places.
Stephen II. Patterson, Jr.