Lisa Cordeiro Reviews

Added May 29, 2004

Parris Island

A Woman's Memoir of Marine Corps Boot Camp

Author: Lisa Cordeiro
Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press
Available At: www.whiskeycreekpress.com
Publishing Date: Available Now
Genre: Non-fiction: Autobiography
Format: Trade Paperback and Ebook download in PDF/HTML/LIT
Price: $15.95 paperback, $6.00
ISBN: 1-59374-093-X paperback, 1-59374-092-1 ebook
Author Email/Website: www.lisacordeiro.com
Reviewer: Joyce Handzo

Written with candor, Parris Island takes readers to one of the most difficult military training grounds in the world. The author chronicles her thirteen-week training regiment, showing readers the slow and painful process of tearing down recruits to rebuild them into a unit comprised of the "the few and the proud".

Nineteen-year-old college student Lisa Cordeiro wanted a new direction to her life. She joined the Marines and found a whole new life. She left her family and friends and traveled to Parris Island in South Carolina for boot camp. Once there, she had to learn if she has what it takes to become a member of the elite group of women who call themselves Marines.

Readers will follow Lisa's story from the very beginning as she contemplates joining this branch of the Armed Forces. Her conversational style of writing allows the reader to feel the conflicting emotions she experiences. Yes, there is the excitement of this adventure, but also present is the fear of the unknown.

Lisa Cordeiro writes with honesty, humility and a touch of humor. Faithfully recounting her training session, readers will see the makings of a Marine from the inside out. There is a definite process of tearing down before building up. Self-esteem and self-respect are discarded. So are modesty, pride and basically any emotion. Fear becomes the enemy that the drill instructors strive to eliminate from these women. Interestingly, the recruits are taught to defend the Constitution, although those rights don't seem to apply to them. They are degraded, humiliated and brought to their knees. Yet, out of the ashes arises a new person, filled with power, prestige and a purpose. That person is a United States Marine.

Herewith is the essence of the book. Although this reviewer was very interested in the behind-the-scenes training at Parris Island, what was even more amazing was the effect on the author. She shows the changes that occurred in her life through, not only a journal account, but with the addition of flashbacks and letters from her family and friends. It becomes very clear that the woman who walked into that training ground slowly changed into another person.

She has also written a second book titled, In the Fleet, which is about her experiences in the Marines after boot camp.

Parris Island is a powerful, poignant, and personal look at how one woman earned the right to be called a Marine.

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