To Matt Weisman ’05 the motto “A Few Good Men” is more than a movie title or recruiting slogan especially since he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in October and is attending Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va.

 

“The Marines say, ‘The few and the proud,’” Weisman notes. “My core values coincide with theirs,” he says. “I wanted to be with the best of the best and to help out.”

 

The former co-captain of Gilmour’s Varsity Football team was an assistant coach of the Lancers for the 2009 season. After graduating from GA, he earned a bachelor of arts in politics and government from Ohio Wesleyan University.

 

“Gilmour promoted working well with others on the playing field and in the classroom and we were required to do community service,” he says. “This correlates with doing public service in the Marines.”

 

During training, Weisman will test his leadership abilities, taking orders from officers then translating and communicating them to soldiers below his rank. He also will be tested on how he handles pressure and behaves in the field when facing obstacles.

 

Although his grandfather, Fred Weisman, who served in World War II, and his father, Mitchell, wanted him to pursue a law career and join the family criminal defense law firm, Matt Weisman had his heart set on the military. “I knew I would regret not joining the military now,” he says. The Weisman family is supportive of Matt’s decision. Sisters Megan ’06, an associate for PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City, and Molly ’09, a junior at The Ohio State University, are onboard too. Weisman says, “My parents were nervous, but they realize how passionate I am about doing this and have supported me.” Gilmour classmate and football teammate Jacob Kaweck, who graduated from the Citadel and is a Marine, also has helped Weisman negotiate the prep work to join the Marines.

 

Weisman will not know where he will be stationed until he completes his training and becomes a second lieutenant, but he wants to be an infantry officer. His official commitment to the Marines is four years of active duty. Down the road, he has considered coaching football as a career.

 

In the meantime, he subscribes to advice from national syndicated columnist Harvey Mackay. “Find something that you love to do and you’ll never have to work in your life.”