While I served in the military, the Air Force was a social club compared to the Marines.
I’ve known Greg Cope White for some thirty years, and have admired him every minute throughout. That he could write as intriguing and honest a book as The Pink Marine is no surprise.
This is the story of how, through pure gumption, a most unlikely Marine candidate rises to the occasion to show his (rainbow flag of) true colors. This guy has lived a life!
Greg’s hilarious and amazingly insightful re-telling is so much fun to read.
For five years, on the television show Covert Affairs, I had the privilege of pretending to be a member of the US military. For six years, in the United States Marines, Greg pretended to be straight. He wins.
The Pink Marine will inspire you, make you laugh, and remind you of what’s important in this life.
A great story beautifully told—surprising, funny, courageous and inspiring.
Greg ‘s The Pink Marine is funny and relentlessly honest. If we have any reason to celebrate the imposed silence of President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, The Pink Marine is it. Had Greg talked back then, we wouldn’t have this book now.
The Marines got a great soldier out of it. And we civilians got a great author.
Marine Corps boot camp was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. I don’t know that I could’ve survived the ordeal if I’d had to carry the secret of being gay along with my pack & rifle. Greg managed to endure more than most Marines, and he came out of it with a rich, enlightening, and affecting tale of endurance.
The Pink Marine is a wonderful book and I’m proud to be a fellow jarhead.
Greg is as inspirational as he is hilarious—I love him and I love this book!
Authentic, inspiring & lots of giggle moments! Greg nails it with this interesting and important memoir.
Hysterical, witty yet serious, Greg shares a very personal look into the life of military service and comes through with flying colors in this honest and funny book!
The Pink Marine is a beautifully detailed passionately written and very necessary book—it’s the fascinating and surprising story of a gay man in the military, told with respect, wit and insight.
THE PINK MARINE
The Pink Marine is the story—full of hilarity and heartbreak—of how a teenage boy who struggles with self-acceptance & doesn’t fit the traditional definition of manliness finds acceptance and self-worth in Marine Corps boot camp.
Hollywood Reporter
From Norman Lear:
Gay U.S. Marine Drama a Go at Netflix
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NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES — BOOTS
In The Pink Marine, Greg Cope White’s sharp, funny, and unexpectedly moving memoir, he recounts how an insecure New Orleans weakling transforms into a Devil Dog Marine. A coming-of-age story set in the most unlikely place: boot camp.
Enlisting was his first battle – he has to cheat to pass the physical and then lie on the enlistment papers about his sexuality. This was a time when Out was not In.
When Greg’s straight best friend Dale tells him he’s spending the summer at Marine Corps boot camp on Parris Island, all Greg hears is “summer” and “camp.” So, he signs up too.
Never mind that he’s underweight, out of shape – and gay, which is illegal in the U.S. military at the time.
Yes, it’s insanely dangerous for both of them. But as fate would have it, the Few and the Proud turn out to be a bunch of oddballs and eccentrics – and a brotherhood is born. In a world where the landmines are both literal and metaphorical, this book takes a hard – and hilarious – look at masculinity and what it really means to belong.
He learns that everyone enters the Corps feeling different – judged for the color of their skin, their weight, or their past. Some even choose boot camp over jail. This will push every man past his limit and strip away who he thinks he is. What breaks them also binds them. Nobody comes out the same. Something shifts for Greg. For everyone.
Told with disarming honesty and biting wit, The Pink Marine follows Greg and his new brothers as they navigate the brutal system of recruit training. Greg must prove he belongs – and figure out who he really is.
SCENES FROM BOOTS
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PARRIS ISLAND USMC BOOT CAMP
When my best friend told me he was spending the summer at Marine Corps boot camp, all I heard was ‘Summer’ and ‘Camp’.
PINK MARINE CHATTER
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