Man says Marines have ‘unbreakable bond’

When a Pocatello Marine Corps recruiter heard about the Chattanooga, Tennessee, shootings that killed four Marines, it hit close to home. It hit harder, though, when he found out he was stationed with one of the victims in the past.

Sgt. Shane Mason joined the Marine Corps after getting laid off at his job at Micron. During his eight years in service, he’s found a bond that can’t be broken.

“All of these people feel the same way that we do and we all work toward a common goal,” he said. “I’ve never seen an organization like that before.”

That bond made an incident nearly 2,000 miles away hit close to home. On Thursday, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez fired at two military facilities in Chattanooga.

One of Mason’s friends, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, was killed that day. The two were stationed in Okinawa, Japan, in 2008.

Mason said knowing one of the victims “made it even worse for me.”

He said they weren’t the best of friends, however, he considers Holmquist a brother since they were both Marines.

“We all go through the same trials and tribulations when it comes to recruit training,” Mason said. “It creates this universal bond that we all have.”

This bond isn’t just exclusive to Holmquist, Mason said, he has this kind of bond with any Marine anywhere. No matter what walk of life they came from.

“We all have our individual personalities, of course, like some of us are more outgoing than others,” he said. “Deep down inside we’re all believing the same thing. We’re all doing the same thing.”

Mason said it’s important to focus on the Marines’ families affected by the shooting and to respect their privacy. U.S. Navy Petty Officer Randall Smith, who was wounded in the shooting, died early Saturday morning.

You can find the Pocatello Marines Facebook page here.