President Reagan Once Received A Marine Corps Recruiting Letter

The year 1983 was a mixed one for the United States Marine Corps. Some 220 Marines were killed in the Beirut Barracks Bombing, marking the deadliest single day for the Corps since the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima. On the other hand, Marines were a critical component to the success of Operation Urgent Fury, the U.S. invasion of Grenada, which took place just days apart from the barracks bombing in Lebanon. 

Still, despite the looming threats of war with the Soviet Union or international terrorism, the Marine Corps had no trouble meeting its recruiting goals in 1984, and much of that was due, at least in part, to the posture of its Commander-In-Chief, President Ronald Reagan. 

At the time, the Corps' recruiting campaigns relied heavily on advertisements and in-person recruiting stations at high schools. So it's not really known how it came to be, but one day, the 73-year-old President of the United States received a letter from the Marine Corps, inviting him to join its prestigious ranks. 

President Reagan did serve in the military when he was of military age. He joined the Army Reserve in 1937, first as a Private and later as a Second Lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps. As war with Japan loomed in 1941, Reagan was called up for active service but kept getting studio-funded deferrals so he could complete filming "Kings Row." When production wrapped, Reagan answered the call. 

Reagan was soon transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces, where he became a Public Affairs Officer and continued to make films, some 400 training films for the U.S. Army's First Motion Picture Unit, set up by studio mogul Jack Warner. He also participated in war bond drives and the production of Army newsreels for the duration of the war. No one was shooting at him, but the job needed to be done (he would otherwise be unsuited for duty, given his poor eyesight). 

But Reagan believed his 1984 invitation to become a United States Marine came "as a result of a Lance Corporal's overactive imagination." While he was probably correct about the letter coming to him as a joke, Reagan still sent a response letter to the then-Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Paul X. Kelley, declining the invitation. 

"I regret that I must decline the attached invitation to enlist in the United States Marine Corps," Reagan wrote. "As proud as I am of the inference concerning my physical fitness, it might be better to continue as Commander-in-Chief. Besides, at the present time, it would be rather difficult to spend ten weeks at Parris Island."

The President also joked about the timing of the letter, which informed him that if he had joined six months earlier, he would be leading an entirely different life. He agreed, noting that the Democratic Party would be thrilled with the idea but that Nancy is happy with their new house and that he is satisfied with his current job. 

Reagan also thanked the Lance Corporal who arranged to send the letter, saying, "he honored me in believing that I have what it takes to become a United States Marine."