Yarborough tells the story of his life changing experience in the Marines
http://valordictus.com/2009/11/12/yarborough-tells-the-story-of-his-life-changing-experience-in-the-marines-2/
Subschool 10 principal Terrence Yarborough joined the Marines in 1981 after pressure from his best friend, Michael, and what he called his constant rebellion against his parents. He left for bootcamp, and subsequently joined Hell company, 2nd medical battalion.
While at a pooling meeting in January 1982, Yarborough met Johnny Copeland.
Yaraborough and Copeland subsequently became best friends.
In 1983 Copeland was stationed in Beirut and was killed during the Beirut bombings. Yarborough was put in charge of taking care of the casket before it was buried. He was instructed not to open it because of the intense damage done to Johnny’s body.
Yarborough met with Johnny’s mother and she told him, “Either you see it, or I see it, but I need to know whether my son is in that casket.” Yarborough mustered up the bravery to look at the body, and he still says today, “The image haunted me for the next eight to nine years, it was that intense seeing my friends body in that shape.”
One of the most significant memories Yarborough has from the Marines was from his time at Camp Lejune in North Carolina. A sergeant approached him on an Friday night before Yarborough was about to go out with friends and asked him, “Are you ready for Monday morning?”
Yarborough says that he has lived by that saying since then. Every Friday as he is leaving school, he makes sure to formulate a plan for the following Monday.