IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers PRIDE—Simi Valley residents, from left, Devon Palafox, Matt McBride and Brendon Hession (Joshua Alvarez is not pictured) officially became U.S. Marines on the same day, Nov. 26. Hession reported for his infantry training this week while the other men will report to Camp Pendleton in January. Four Simi Valley boys—each unaware of the others' actions— entered boot camp in the United States Marine Corps on Sept. 2.

On Nov. 26, they left the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego together as men.

Strangers at first, the four are now friends who say they can count on each other regardless of circumstances.

"I didn't know these guys before," Joshua Alvarez said. "They're like my brothers now."

Alvarez, Brendon Hession, Matt McBride and Devon Palafox, none of whom knew each other in high school, all became Marines on the same day in late November.

Sgt. Rocky Gonzalez, the local Marine Corps recruiter in Simi Valley, called it a unique— and inspiring—situation.

"I think it's great and outstanding," Gonzalez said of the four men from the same hometown completing boot camp on the same day. "We need more young men and women who are willing to step up and fight for our freedom."

The four did physical training together this past Monday at the Simi Valley Marine recruitment office, just a day before Hession, 18, was scheduled to begin his school of infantry at Camp Pendleton.

A graduate of Simi Valley High this year, Hession said he's wanted to be in the Marine Corps since he was a little boy, and he looks forward to getting involved on the front lines of combat, a chance he'll almost certainly get as a Marine.

"I wanted to be in the infantry from the moment I joined," Hession said. "I have friends and family out there (in Iraq and Afghanistan), and I want to go over there and help."

Hession's cousin is in the Army and is currently deployed in Afghanistan, and both of his grandfathers and an uncle served in the military. His grandfather on his mother's side of the family, Bill Perkins, served in the Marines in World War II and in Korea.

Alvarez, 18, also graduated from Simi Valley High in the spring but barely knew Hession while they were in school.

"I feel like I've gained so much, as far as discipline and respect," said Alvarez, who would like to become a firefighter. "I'm a different kid now. I respect people a lot more now."

Alvarez and McBride started their work as recruiter's assistants this week. Alvarez had a great-grandfather in the U.S. Navy and a cousin the U.S. Coast Guard. A participant in Renaissance Club who dressed as the school mascot for rallies in high school, Alvarez will begin training for his military occupation specialty in crash fire rescue on Jan. 6.

McBride, 19, said the Marines have offered him the "toughest training you can receive." The home-schooled graduate will be an aviation mechanic but thinks he'd like to get involved with infantry if he reenlists in three years, which he said he is inclined to do.

"I got a little taste of what it would be like," he said. "I just love this stuff, having to push myself harder and harder."

McBride's father, Daniel, earned a Silver Star and a Purple Heart after serving with distinction in the Army during the Vietnam War.

The younger McBride said the moment he finished climbing the steep Reaper hill and officially became a Marine was "the most amazing experience of my life."

Palafox, 18, said he's wanted to be in the Marines since he was in seventh grade. The Royal High graduate will be involved in aviation ordinance.

"I've always wanted to become a Marine," Palafox said. "I'm pretty much living out a dream."

Like Alvarez and McBride, Palafox will begin his Marine Combat Training on Jan. 6.

"I want to go to different parts of the world, and if I serve for 20 years, I can retire when I'm 38, which is pretty cool," he said.

Palafox said he noticed small changes in older friends who earlier returned from boot camp.

"It's not quite like they had changed, but I could tell they became better people," he said. His cousin, Doug Huntley, is in the Marines.

The four Marines—who will forever be linked—said they are pleased they found each other, and they are ready to begin new chapters in their lives.

"This is just the beginning," Alvarez said.