Marine in Mamaroneck Finds Curious Students, Hostile Parents

by Judy Silberstein

(June 14, 2005) Michael Harrington, a student at Mamaroneck High School – with only two hours left until he becomes a senior – was leaning against the hot metal of a car parked in the noonday sun on the sweltering asphalt behind Starbucks on the Post Road shooting questions at Staff Sergeant Daniel Patrick Flinton, a recruiter with the United States Marine Corps. Michael Costello, a quiet sophomore listened politely and declined to move into the shade, despite the 90°+ heat. Other male students walked up, attracted by the uniform and the small crowd, but most were underclassmen and none stayed to chat.

Marine recruiter Sgt. Donald P. Flinton chats with MHS students on break behind Starbucks. Junior Michael Harrington (in red shirt) is considering his options.

Mostly it was Michael Harrington serving a quick succession of questions, and Sgt. Flinton enthusiastically serving up the answers:

Q: Wow, retirement after 20 years, that’s better than the Sanitation Department. Any overtime?
A: No overtime, but my hours are better than my Mom’s – she works 80 hours a week.

Q: What’s a typical day like?
A: Exercise, breakfast, 8:00 am class or work, off at 4:30 or 5:00 with time to polish your boots, go bowling – with the new boots, you don’t even have to shine them.

Q: What about living quarters?
A: Dorm like atmosphere, barracks with big TV.

Q: How about college – or a master’s degree?
A: Depends on your motivation – I joined after high school and got my degree.

And then the big questions:

“What do they tell you about the war? When is the war on terror going to be over? Because the Marines seems like a perfect life; it will help keep me in shape, but that won’t help me if I’m dead,” said Michael.

“It is a dangerous war – and I wouldn’t be able to tell you if you’re going to Iraq or not,” Sgt. Flinton told the students. But you can get in an accident on the road any day, anywhere, he pointed out. He’d done his homework and had a data sheet showing that 71 people are killed each day in alcohol related accidents, 25,000 are killed each year.

Neither the heat nor the questions fazed Sgt. Flinton. The questions are part of the job and the heat was mild compared to Thailand, another posting.

He recognized that the students might not be “gung ho” on the war. “Wouldn’t it be better to get out there and do something about it?” he asked them. He talks to his Marine buddies in Iraq everyday by email or phone, and he’s concerned that the media aren’t getting out the positive stories.

“We are making a difference,” he said and mentioned the Iraqi elections where the turnout out was greater than in the US, and the schools that were being built, the electricity that was getting turned on and the trains that were getting fixed. “Wouldn’t that be something - fixing the trains in New York City?” he asked.

As the students wandered back to class, some having exchanged contact information with Sgt. Flinton, the recruiter stayed in the parking lot to answer more questions.

Sgt. Flinton admitted that Mamaroneck is his toughest assignment as the recruiter for the Sound Shore communities from Port Chester to Pelham. Since starting the job six months ago, he’s had some successes, although he has yet to meet his quota of two recruits a month.

In Mamaroneck he hasn’t signed up anyone. Allowed to make a formal presentation this year at the MHS College Information Center, most of the students who attended came to protest. The counseling department doesn't know of any student heading to the military after graduation this year.

Instead of entering the school, Sgt. Flinton comes to the nearby shops. “Lots of kids hang out here,” he said, "and people come up all the time and want to hear about the Marines."

Parents, on the other hand are tough, he reported. “Those that do calm down enough to talk to me, they definitely learn something and they come away a little more positive.” He tries to get potential recruits to come into his office with their parents, “so they don’t think I’m back-dooring them.”

“Mamaroneck has the most hostile parents – but I still keep trying,” he said.

Hostile would be a good characterization of Linda Harrington, Michael’s mom, who contacted the Gazette on Wednesday after learning about the encounter with the Marine recruiter.

“I am beside myself,” she said. She had already called Congresswoman Nita Lowey’s office to express her outrage.

Checking on her son’s voicemail, she had found a message from Sgt. Flinton. “I’m appalled,” she said. “These are young impressionable kids. They have no business doing this. I called back Sgt. Flinton and told him to stay away from my son.”

This isn’t the first time Michael Harrington has been contacted by a recruiter near the high school. Two years ago he had come home excited by the prospect of joining the military. “He could see things and do things and see the world,” Ms. Harrington reported him saying. “I was told the recruiters troll for these young kids.”

Her greatest fear is that her son will take independent action. “These kids are very secretive, she said, "by the time you've found out what they’ve done, it’s too late.”

Reached for comment, Sgt Flinton said, “Of course if someone’s under 18, I’m going to go to the parents. When someone turns 18, they can make their own decision, but even guys 24, 25 years-old I almost always talk to the parents.”

“These guys don’t know what they want – we’re just an option,” Sgt. Flinton added. "These parents have blinders and think no one has any use for the military - that only the poor or the underprivileged go into the military. I see everyday how the military helps people – especially how it’s helped me,” said the thirty-year-old Marine.

So, what are Michael’s plans at this point? “I’m still thinking about it [the Marines], but my mom is yelling at me,” he said. “The recruiter guy is really nice – I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do.”