"If you go past March, you get into some really hot weather," said Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, a retired marine whom General Franks succeeded as the head of the Central Command.

In Maine, for instance, Mr. McCain's state campaign chairman is a retired marine from Dresden who coaches college softball.

The retired marine who now keeps the Intrepid shipshape did an about-face and told the producers to take their cameras elsewhere, people with the show said.

With crew-cut hair and a sweatshirt, he might as easily be mistaken for a high school gym teacher or a retired marine as for a Catholic monk, which he once was.

There was Ed Kostiuk, a retired marine from San Diego.

'Our Government Is Blind' Robert Mouton, a retired marine who fought in Indochina, Madagascar and Algeria, said, "Our Government is blind."

Alvin Cochren, a retired marine who is a cemetery representative at Jefferson Barracks, said he had heard both men and machines and knew which one he wanted at his funeral.

They will face some skeptics at Leatherneck magazine, which has been serving active and retired marines for 86 years.

In 2007 at a Three Valley Water District Board meeting in Claremont, California, new member Xavier Alvarez introduced himself by saying "I'm a retired marine of 25 years.

It was designed with input from active-duty and retired marines from 3rd Battalion 1st Marines, as well as interviews from the U.S. Marines, Iraqi insurgents, and Iraqi civilians involved in the battle.