Once A Marine
A Marine's Memoir of Brotherhood, Tragedy, and Parkinson's DiseaseBy R.D. PARRISH
Length3h 48m
About this audiobook
ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE: A Memoir of Service and Survival
At sixteen, he struggled to survive above a friend’s garage on his own. By seventeen, he joined the Marine Corps in San Diego, seeking discipline and purpose absent from his youth. Boot camp in 1976 was brutal, marked by abuse and loss, but he endured and became a Marine.
His service included surviving violent encounters and harsh conditions, from a gang attack in Phoenix to Arctic Circle war games that almost killed him. Though faced with setbacks like demotion, his resilience earned respect and restoration of rank.
Stationed at Camp Lejeune (1978), he unknowingly drank contaminated water daily, exposure linked to illness and death among Marines, concealed by the Corps.
A stark account of survival, brotherhood, and the lasting impact of toxic exposure on Marines.
Content Warning
Contains descriptions of abuse, violence, medical trauma, and progressive illness.
Audiobook details
GenreBiography and Memoir
Length3 hrs 48 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJan 16, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE
10Chapter 8 - The Arctic
2Prologue: The Weight of Water
11Chapter 9 - The Colonel
3Chapter 1 - The Bucket
12Chapter 10 - Lejeune
4Chapter 2 - Yellow Footsteps
13Chapter 11 - Walking Off
5Chapter 3 - The Water
14Chapter 12 - The First Signs
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter 4 - The Breaking Point
15Chapter 13 - The Long Decline
7Chapter 5 - Becoming a Marine
16Chapter 14 - The Reckoning
8Chapter 6 - Phoenix Beating
17Epilogue - Semper Fi
9Chapter 7 - Paradise and Orders
More from R.D. PARRISH
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (385)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$15 · $0.00
Just as I AmCicely Tyson16h 8m4.6 (99K)$33 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
My Bondage and My Freedom (Annotated)Frederick Douglass15h 30m4.6 (2.4K)$2 · $0.00
You may also like
The Brightest StarGail Tsukiyama9h 31m3.5 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
Hospital SketchesLouisa May Alcott3h 5m3.7 (4K)$1 · $0.00
The EulogistTerry Gamble9h 29m3.7 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00
North of NormalCea Sunrise Person9h 32m4.3 (21.4K)$29 · $0.00
StuffedPatricia Volk7h 50m3.6 (1.8K)$17 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Be Not Far from MeMindy McGinnis5h 28m4.0 (14.5K)$24 · $0.00
Cher: Part OneCher15h 47m4.4 (41.4K)$33 · $0.00
Our Nig; Or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-story White House, North / Showing That Slavery's Shadows Fall Even ThereHarriet E. Wilson2h 21m3.9 (5.3K)Free
The Girl on the BalconyOlivia Hussey9h 50m4.2 (2K)$20 · $0.00
Into the VoidGeezer Butler8h 31m4.3 (4.8K)$8 · $0.00
The Honey BusMeredith May9h 31m4.4 (16.6K)$25 · $0.00
Big LoveBrooke Blurton7h 21m4.3 (943)$24 · $0.00
Where Is the Mango Princess?Cathy Crimmins8h 21m4.1 (3.6K)$20 · $0.00
Funeral for FlacaEmilly G. Prado5h 36m4.3 (838)$17
The Incredible Life of Olaudah Equiano, A British Ex-SlaveOlaudah Equiano9h 47m4.2 (21.5K)$0.99 · $0.00
Eye of the TigerJohn Edmund Delezen6h 50m4.4 (1.4K)$17
I Pledge AllegianceChris Lynch3h 51m4.1 (2.1K)$15
Beer MoneyFrances Stroh6h 37m3.6 (1.9K)$17
Black BeautyAnna Sewell5h 38m4.2 (352.3K)Free