Last week I had the great honor of being invited by the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps as the Guest of Honor for this year’s Sunset Parade. While I was in DC, I got to visit the Pentagon, give a talk at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and clean up cigarette butts in the parking lot with a bunch of other Lance Corporals.

It was a very busy trip with a lot of activity squeezed into the 1 day I was in Pentagon City. It started with a trip to the Pentagon in the morning to officially meet with SgtMaj Ruiz and General Smith (the Marine Corps Commandant). This was officially my first time at the Pentagon, and I was happy to see it not only contains a Panda Express, but a Starbucks and a Popeye’s Chicken as well.

After meeting the SgtMaj in his office, I had a short meet and greet with General Smith at his office, which was foreboding and down a long, red hallway lined with portraits of past Commandants. General Smith as super chill and gave me a challenge coin, but I don’t carry challenge coins, so I gave him a TL condom. This interaction was as awkward as you can imagine in a dead silent room of Marine Corps officers.

As the Guest of Honor at the parade, we had a reception beforehand where the SgtMaj of the Marine Corps introduced me as the “Lance Corporal of the Marine Corps,” which I guess makes it official.

To be blunt: even though I’ve been doing this for as many years as I have, and I have seen firsthand the love and warmth that fans have given me over the years, even I wasn’t quite prepared for the level of welcome I received in DC. To have the acting Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps say in his remarks that I’ve done as much or more for the Marine Corps as any General or otherwise took me aback.

The entire trip for me felt like a real full-circle moment for myself and my Marine Corps journey with both my enlistment and Terminal Lance and beyond. Believe it or not, I actually hit my 20 year enlistment mark on May 21st, just a couple of weeks before the trip. In an alternate universe, I could have been standing at that exact spot listening to someone give me retirement remarks on that exact day.

But things were different for me. My work with Terminal Lance over the years has allowed me to see and do and experience so many things I would have never expected as a young Lance Corporal drawing comics in Hawaii back in 2010.

Huge thank you to the Sergeant Major’s staff at the Pentagon for taking care of me, driving me around, keeping me on schedule, and just overall being a great bunch.