As three Marines began their journey through recruit training, they had one person in mind to keep them motivated, Billy Foulke.
Their friend had been killed in a car accident just last year. They all had plans to join the Marines, whether they were completely solid or not. They almost came to a stop the night Billy was killed.
Pfc. Kyle Banks previously a recruit in Platoon 2068, and Pfc. Joshua Rentz of Platoon 2064, Fox Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, had a normal day of work and decided to go to a party when they clocked out. They called up Billy to see if he would join them. Banks and Rentz left the party around 1:30 a.m., leaving Billy who said he would catch a ride with another friend, Banks explained.
"When I woke up the next morning, I had several missed calls from Billy's mom,"Banks said.
When he finally called her back, he was hit with the shocking news. Billy and his other friends were traveling 95 miles per hour when they went around a corner, hit the sidewalk and the car flipped over, Banks said.
Billy had gone with three of his other friends to buy a pack of cigarettes, he was the only one old enough to buy them, explained Holly Foulke, Billy's mother.
Banks called Rentz, who was working at a construction site as an electrician.
"I was trying to rush him off the phone because I was working,"said Rentz. "When he said Billy was dead, I had to stop for a few minutes to find out what happened."
The third Marine, Pvt. Edward Reixinger, also of Platoon 1064, found out about his friends'death from his mother.
Reixinger had stayed at a friend's house the night before and was awoken by his mother's phone call.
"As soon as she told me what happened, I was on my way home,"Reixinger said.
Reixinger had known Billy since they were little, and although they each had a separate circle of friends, the two remained close throughout the years.
Banks and Billy met when Banks moved into Billy's neighborhood and the two ended up working together at the local movie theater.
"We both liked watching action movies and decided we would do everything together,"Banks said. "Like playing the good cop/bad cop roles."
The two decided to join the Marine Corps together, but after the accident Banks was unsure if he would still go.
Rentz met Billy and Banks while working at the movie theater with them.
Rentz had wanted to be a Marine for a couple years, but didn't know Billy had the same aspiration of becoming one.
"There was a night our manager got mad at him and told him he couldn't be a Marine because he was too weak,"Rentz said. "That's when I found out Billy wanted to be a Marine, too."
Billy introduced Reixinger to the idea of joining the Marines. Reixinger knew he wanted to do something for himself that he could be proud of and could make his family proud of him.
There was no exact plan for these four to leave for recruit training at the same time, but that all changed after Billy's accident.
"Boot camp has been the hardest, but at the same time the easiest thing I have done,"Banks said. "I guess it's because I wanted to be a Marine."
Rentz agreed with is friend, but Reixinger said it was more difficult for him.
"I was raised to treat others as I want to be treated,"Reixinger said. "Boot camp has been nothing like that."
The hardest part of recruit training for these Marines was the Crucible.
"Billy's sister once wrote me a letter telling me to use him as motivation when I didn't think I would make it through,"Banks said. "Billy was all of our motivation on the Crucible."
When the friends didn't think they would make it to through the heat to the end of the hike, all they had to do was think of Billy and find the strength to make finish.
On Aug. 17 the three Marines graduate recruit training and begin their new lives as Marines. They know they will all keep in contact with Billy's mother, and will always remember their friend who has kept them motivated.