'It's our legacy that defines us': Marines gather in Lower Burrell to celebrate 250th anniversary of the corps

Many would say a man of 38 years would not have much in common with a man of 80.

But through their service in the Marine Corps, Adam Elliott and James Walters are more alike than unalike. Each enlisted as teens.

“The brotherhood that we have as Marines is far beyond what most people could fathom,” said Elliott, 38, of Elizabeth Township. “Through our struggles we always have those that are there for us. That’s what really helped me through a lot.”

“Once a Marine, always a Marine” is ingrained in them from the day they arrive at boot camp, said Walters, 80, of Lower Burrell.

“We’d probably die for each other, if it came to that,” he said. “We would have each other’s back all the way.”

Elliott was the guest of honor as the Westmoreland County Marines Detachment 1416 celebrated the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary with a ball at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Lower Burrell on Saturday night.

The Marine Corps was born Nov. 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, when Capt. Samuel Nicholas set up the first recruiting headquarters at Tun Tavern looking for “a few good men.”

Walters is the commandant of the Westmoreland County detachment, which was founded in 2013 and has about 80 members, mostly Vietnam veterans.

Instead of a toy drive at Christmas, they provide food to veterans with families in need in December. It also helps veterans with other needs, such as paying utility bills and car repairs, he said.

Walters volunteered out of high school in Freeport. He served from 1963 to 1969 as a radio operator, and was in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966.

The oldest of 10 children, he followed his father’s footsteps into the service but didn’t want to be in the Air Force as his dad was. He chose the Marines after seeing the recruiter in his dress blues at his school.

Walters said he started boot camp as a tall and skinny kid of 138 pounds. He finished at 172 pounds.

“It was all muscle,” he said.

Walters had every intention of being a lifer, but when a sergeant told him that signing that paper would send him back to Vietnam, he didn’t because he didn’t know if he would make it home a second time. He retired from Allegheny Ludlum, today’s ATI, after 36 years.

Elliott, a field artillery and cannon crewman, was enlisted from 2006 to 2010, including a tour in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. He was medically separated after badly injuring a knee during a training exercise.

He now works as a commercial driver’s license instructor and state examiner for All-State Career School in West Mifflin.

“I felt the call to duty,” Elliott said. “It’s where I felt I belong.”

A Marine can’t be defined, Elliott said.

“It’s our legacy that defines us,” he said. “It’s something that’s born into us. It’s nothing that can be taught. Marines earn the title. It’s not given.”

Elliott said he was likely the youngest man in the room Saturday night. But whether it was a Marine just out of boot camp, or a World War II veteran still with us, their character would be the same, he said.

“When you look at a Marine, you know a Marine,” Elliott said. “It’s how they carry themselves. That’s why we’re the 1%.”