Leading by example

Laying in a hospital bed with nothing to look at but the ceiling for two months would drive most men crazy. It took its toll on Broghan Hawley, too. Just ask him.

Two weeks into basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Hawley slipped from the top of a 30-foot rope, burning his hands all the way down, and breaking bones in his left leg as he hit the ground. He was removed from his training company. Following surgery, he endured two months of bed rest with nothing to do but count the ceiling tiles.

"It was pretty de-motivating," said Hawley. "There were times when I wanted to go home. They actually offered me a medical discharge twice.

But, then my leg started getting better and I started thinking about why I wanted to do this in the first place."

As he began to become mobile during the final two months of his recovery, he became anxious to get back to basic.

"I spent those four months pretty much sitting around. I studied what I could about recruit training, but we couldn't do a lot. Maybe on Saturdays or Sundays we might get to watch a movie, but that was it."

As he got closer to returning, he became inspired by a physician assistant who encouraged him to consider leaving. "He told me, 'You're not going to make it past the first hike.' I thought, who are you to tell me what I'm not going to be able to do."

On Dec. 1, 2008, Hawley proved that medical expert wrong as he joined Bravo Company, two weeks into their training. There were just under 500 recruits in Bravo Company, and a day or two into his new basic training session, he was picked as the guide (recruit in charge of the platoon). "I pretty much had it after that."

He saw the appointment as a challenge designed to test him and his role with the new company. "The toughest part was not knowing any of the guys in the new platoon and being the guide. I had to get to know them as soon as possible."

Anyone questioning how things were going to work out for Hawley obviously has no knowledge of his reputation on the Spencer High School football field where, for two years, he served as the key scout team running back, facing the likes of all-district Tiger defensive players JJ Nair and Sean Elliott on a daily basis. Hawley was awarded for his heart by his teammates annually. While his foottball days are behind, that heart continues beating.

"My parents told me never to quit anything. I've always been a pretty hard worker. The combination of those two made it possible for me to stay with it that long, and then be successful when I did pick up with a training company," Hawley said.

The son of Brad and Julie Hawley of Spencer, the 2008 Tiger graduate is the second oldest of four boys. While his grandfather served in post-war Korea with the U.S. Army, Broghan was the first in this generation of Hawleys to pursue a military career.

"I always talked about it, but my parents never really thought I was serious," said Hawley about his decision to go into the service as opposed to college. "They were not very happy to tell the truth, not happy at all. But, after I got signed up and was enlisted they were very supportive.

"They definitely don't want me to go to Iraq. They wanted me to go to college. They had my life mapped out for me, but it's just not what I wanted. I do plan on going to college, but just not then. I hope to start classes sometime this summer."

Two months after high school graduation, Hawley was on a plane and headed to the West Coast where he would begin his training to join "the few, the proud, the Marines."

"Right when the plane landed it's like, well here I am and then when I heard the drill instructor tell us to get on the bus, I thought, oh boy, here we go. Then we got off the bus and they had us stand on the yellow footprints. It's finally here, it's real."

The realness continued immediately when he returned to basic after recovering from his injury. "They threw me right in, there was no easing into it."

Fighting through the pain, which he still feels in that left leg, Hawley completed the final 11 weeks of basic.

"The last hike - the Reaper hike - was probably the hardest part I had to do. But, I did it."

And, he so impressed two review boards with his drill knowledge, composure and presence that he received the company's highest honor and was named Company Honor Man.

Hawley was able to inform his parents by mail that he had been named the Bravo Company Honor Man. "They were very proud I would have to assume. I didn't hear from them again until they were out for graduation, but they said they were very proud."

Lance Cpl. Broghan Hawley graduated from basic training on Feb. 13 - the top graduate amongst a class that consisted primarily of privates and private first class graduates.

Home in Spencer for a few more days, Hawley admitted he is ready to get back to work. He will fly back to Camp Pendleton near San Diego on March 9 for Marine Combat Training for a month, then head to the other coast and Pensecola, Fla., for job training, which could take up to a year. Hawley will be training to become a helicopter crew chief.

He is hopeful that once he completes his technical training, he will be assigned to Avionics in Mirimar in San Diego.

Returning to Spencer after training, Hawley did notice something different about Marines and the rest of the population. "We all move faster now. I came back and everybody seems to walk too slow. It's a lot of confidence. You say what you want. Stand a little taller."

And Hawley, who might have measured in the 5-8, 5-9 range at graduation does seem to have put on a couple more inches. It must be the uniform.