MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Motivational speaker Bob Holmes paid a visit to Marines at the Area 1 Gym aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Sept. 14, to improve morale and boost spirits.
Holmes has been dubbed a ‘one-man volleyball team’ and he has lived up to that name.
Holmes has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for most volleyball games won, more than a staggering 17,000 wins. The games he has won have been against a variety of people, from the Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers to the Washington Redskins.
Before the game started, Lt. Col. David G. Bardorf, commanding officer for Headquarters and Support Battalion, MCB Camp Lejeune, made a deal with the lance corporals and below.
“If you can win one game against him you will get a 72, if you win both games, I will give you all a 96,” said Bardorf. “However, if you lose, we can think something up, like a CO, E3 and below run.”
With that, the Marines put all they had into winning a game. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side and Holmes ended winning both games.
However, he did not travel to MCB Camp Lejeune to just beat Marines in a game of volleyball.
“I didn’t come here just to play, but to meet the guys I respect. Each one of you fights for our nation,” said Holmes to the group of privates, privates first class and lance corporals, many of whom were either teenagers or in their early twenties. “And I fight for our teens.”
Holmes talked about how more teenagers committed suicide last year than all the casualties of the Iraq War. He then addressed the crowd, telling them they all had a purpose in life, and that even if the road is rough, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
He also addressed drunk driving. During his speech he spoke of a young girl who was hit by a drunk driver and was burned from the waist up. The driver was sent to prison and Holmes said he did not want anyone to end up in the victim’s or even the driver’s shoes.