Every other Saturday morning, the Northern Kentucky Young Marines meet at the Latonia VFW, often waking up Harold, who lives on the second floor of the building.
Kids aged eight through 18 participate in the program, modeled after the United States Marine Corps, that focuses on American history, physical fitness, public speaking, citizenship, community service and living a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.
The NKY unit is one of nearly 300 across the country. Right now, they have 18 active members.
The kids in the program learn skills such as the specifics of shoe shining and uniform care, as well as close-order drills and marches. They also have the opportunity to hear from guest speakers who discuss topics ranging from fire safety to archery stances and even visit with drug dogs.
Unit Commander Lynne Arnold has been with the program for 16 years, and she discovered it in an interesting way. She told LINK she was giving blood during a Hoxworth blood drive, and she noticed the man lying next to her was a veteran. She thanked him for his service, and since they had both given double red cells (an over-an-hour-long process), they had some time to talk.
“At the end, I said, ‘I wish my son had been here to hear all your stories, because I’ll forget most of it, and he would be terribly interested,’” said Arnold.
He then told her all about the Young Marines program.
Her then nine-year-old son was immediately into the idea and jumped right on it. The day before training started, one of the parents in the program talked her then eleven-year-old daughter into doing the recruit training as well.
“It was 41 degrees and pouring down rain, and I’m thinking, ‘well, she’s quitting,’ said Arnold. “They’re out crawling in the mud. She didn’t like outdoors, she didn’t like cold, she didn’t like being yelled at, she didn’t like any of it.”
When she went to pick them up at the end of the day, she asked her son how he liked it, and she wasn’t surprised that he loved it. Then she asked her daughter, “And she said, ‘Mom, that was the hardest Saturday of my entire life. And I can’t wait till next Saturday.”
Both kids stayed in the program all the way through; her son joined the Marines and is now attending college in Texas. Her daughter received a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship, which is only given to one woman and one man in Kentucky every year, and attended the Coast Guard Academy, graduating top of her class in 2018.
When LINK met with Arnold at Fort Thomas Coffee, the local Veterans and Friends Getting Coffee group was also having their weekly meeting. The NKY Young Marines have numerous local supporters, and many are part of the group that meets every Friday. Several stopped by to sing the praises of the young marines.
NKY Young Marines Executive Office and Navy veteran Reese Hardy told LINK that he started working with the program after bringing his grandson to a meeting. His grandson was practicing with Arnold’s daughter, and he started talking to Arnold, and “I don’t know, somehow or another, she fished me in.”
“I got hooked,” said Hardy. “The kids are fantastic. I mean, we take good kids and make leaders out of them.”
The year he joined, Hardy went with the group on a trip to Pearl Harbor, and he’s been with them ever since.
Todd Phillips couldn’t recall exactly, but around 13 or 14 years ago, Arnold approached him and asked if he could come visit with the NKY Young Marines during one of their meetings.
He came by to check it out, and he was definitely impressed.
“I’m a career soldier. Okay? They’re putting us to shame,” Phillips told LINK. “Their uniforms, their haircuts, it was immaculate.”
After his visit, Phillips said, “From that point on, I’ve been a fan and supporter.”
“It’s fantastic what they do, the discipline, the training they do,” said Phillips. “If I’d been a kid, I would have joined. They teach them respect and confidence.”
Confidence was a key word that was brought up over and over in our conversations with everyone involved with the NKY Young Marines.
Arnold said that it has been great, “seeing the kids come from no eye contact, looking down at their boots the whole time, to like Abby. Now, Abby can go in front of a crowd of 1000 and talk and not be nervous about it.”
Seventeen-year-old Young Marine Sergeant Major, Abby Smith, was the 2024 Division Three Young Marine of the year and has been representing NKY across the country. When LINK spoke with her, she was coming back from two weeks in Oregon, training Young Marine leadership.
Smith said that she has loved her time getting to work with younger members, “It was really great seeing all of these kids push themselves and make themselves the best leaders they can be.”
She told LINK that she has always wanted to join the military, specifically the Navy, because her grandparents served there. She got involved with the Young Marines after her tenth birthday when she asked her parents if she could donate her presents to the Navy Reserve Center.
Through this, she got in contact with someone from the USO, who told her about the program, “as soon as I heard about it, I just knew I had to join.”
After her first day running the muddy obstacle course, she was hooked. When LINK asked Smith what her favorite part of the program was, she said she was asked that a lot, and it’s difficult to pin down, but she always says, the opportunities.
The opportunities to travel, see new places and meet new people.
“This past year alone, I was able to travel across the country, across the world,” said Smith. “I had the opportunity to go back to Guam and Iwo Jima on the eighth anniversary of us retaking the island and see the flag raising.”
Not only has the program provided her with numerous opportunities, but it has also enabled her to grow in confidence, Smith said.
“For me and for so many others in this program, it’s just putting yourself in those situations you never thought you’d be in,” said Smith. “When I first joined, I hated public speaking with a passion. I hated even raising my hand in class to answer questions, but I put myself out there, and I started public speaking, giving presentations in front of hundreds.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the NKY Young Marines can email Lynne Arnold at Lynne.Arnold@YoungMarines.org or visit nkyyoungmarines.com.