MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- U.S. Marines with various units aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii participated in the second day of Marine Corps Martial Arts Instructors Course at the football field, MCBH, Sept. 11, 2018.
The 30 Marines in the course conducted a 9/11 homage style workout by first finding a partner and then conducting nine exercises that included 11 different carries.
One of the six Marine Corps Martial Arts Instructors Trainers for the course, Sgt. Manuel Mejia, a supply clerk with 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, said he made the workouts to show that even during the hardest of times, Marines should still persevere through the pain.
“A lot of these Marines were young during Sept. 11 and didn’t understand it,” Mejia said. “My goal was to let them know about the heroes that sacrificed their lives.”
Mejia talked to the Marines following the event about former a soldier that sacrificed his live to save his workers.
“The soldier would run safety drills every quarter to ensure his workers were prepared in the event of tragedy,” he said. “When 9/11 happened, he saved 2,700 lives and because of the sacrifice he made, those 2,700 people were able to reunite with their families.”
One of the students in the course, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ryannjay Poblete, the distribution management office officer-in-charge with Headquarters Battalion, MCBH, was 20 years old when 9/11 happened.
“If we look back to 9/11, a lot of people passed away,” Poblete said. “It really made me sad and I was devastated. A lot of them gave their lives to save others.”
Poblete said that the students in the course had no reason to complain.
“The heroes that gave their lives and went up in the World Trade Center to save those people didn’t get to take a breather,” he said. “As a warfighter, we should stay not only physically fit, but also mentally fit.”
Poblete said that this course is only a fraction of what’s going down in the future.
“You never know what’s going to happen, we might see combat or even another war in the future, but as Marines, we got to stay prepared.”