The U.S. has been in Afghanistan for so long that the newest marine recruits were born after 9/11

In addition to the expected challenges of boot camp — crawling and climbing through grueling obstacle courses and getting screamed at by drill instructors — this year's youngest Marine recruits have also had to sit through a history lesson.

While a flood of recruits born after Sept. 11, 2001 are expected to enter boot camp this summer, The Wall Street Journal reports, some 17-year-olds have already arrived at places like Marine Recruit Depot Parris Island, where they hear from instructors who walk them through the terrorist attacks that preceded the United States' nearly two-decade long engagement in Afghanistan.

Recruits learn anecdotes from the day — such as the passengers who stormed the cockpit to take back control of United's Flight 93 before crashing it into a field outside of Shanksville, Penn. — and are shown a collage of the faces of the 2,977 individuals who died in the attacks. They also learn about the Taliban and are informed about the early stages of the War on Terror.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

One recruit told the Journal that that he knew very little about Sept. 11 other than that it was a "turning point in our nation's history." Read the full report at The Wall Street Journal.