First let me say there is no such thing as an ex-marine. The title Marine is earned upon graduation of boot camp and never lost. The history of the corps is drilled into you. I can still tell you the first Marine Aviator was AA Cunningham for example. In my mind one of the reasons Marines are the way they are is due to the size of the Corps especially in relation to their mission. In my unit there were about 50 of us. When we went to Desert Storm we were in the middle of no where with the nearest friendly troops many miles away. We depend on each other because our lives depended upon it. We trained and worked hard to become the best we could be. This may be true of all branches of service however the pride is not quite drilled into you. Espirit De Corps is one of the 11 leadership traits expected of any Marine. And as far as it never leaving you, the last line of the Marine Corps hymn says it best:If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven's scene, they will see the streets are guarded by United States Marines.