Title of Boot

Title: Title of Boot

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

Ben is 26 and was born in Connecticut. He currently lives in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was in the Marines until May of 2016 and won a scholarship to come to Dartmouth College. He joined in the military when he was 21 and attended the University of Rhode Island briefly. He wanted to make a change and joined the Marine Corps because he was interested in the infantry growing up and throughout high school. He wanted to join the Marine infantry because it appealed to him the most. He is a Computer Science major and wants to pursue a more normal life after traveling so much the past few years. He has been to the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Kuwait, Iraq, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Oman, Japan, and Italy.

Contextual Data:

Social & Cultural Context: Every branch of the military has a social hierarchy, depending on the experience, length of their service, and their age. Titles such as “boot” seem to symbolize this kind of hierarchy by differentiating new members of the military from those who have seen more experience overseas.

Item:

The title of boot is what everyone is called when they first join the military, before they have gone through any deployments.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

“Really the biggest rite of passage, which is going from being a boot to being considered one of the, I guess, equals. Before you go on your first deployment, you know, you’re considered a boot, and I guess really to the Marine Corps what pledging is to a fraternity where you’re just kind of treated, kind of treated like you’re on a lower tier I guess. You’ll always be told to clean, you’re really treated worse I guess than you know, the rest of the guys who have been in longer than you.”

Informant’s Comments:

Ben thought that this was a way for people to demonstrate that they had first joined the military, as it is an important milestone for a lot of people. He said that you’re really motivated and proud to be a Marine when you first join and leave boot camp and the school of infantry. He believes that people who are not boots are more used to the military, which turns into the fact that making of that individuals are boots is a way of entertainment and tradition.

Collector’s Comments:

The title of “boot” was also referred to across many different branches of military service, and almost all of the informants shared this same title when they first joined before their first deployment. It seems to represent the title one receives when one is new and not yet experienced, and going through this rite of passage and gaining more experience allows one to move past this title to earning other titles higher up on the military hierarchy.

Collector’s Name: Jenna Shin

Tags/Keywords:

Dartmouth Folklore Archive