 Each year, more than a quarter million high school boys are involved in the Marine Corps Youth Physical Fitness Program. They come from all kinds of schools from all parts of the United States. Some have excellent facilities for all athletic programs. Others are so limited they can barely organize varsity sports. The program is flexible. It may be used anywhere. Anywhere a young man can do sit-ups, push-ups, squat thrusts, chin-ups and run 60 yards in one direction. And more. The program is flexible enough for all boys, though they vary in sizes, shapes and abilities. Each boy has an obstacle to overcome himself. The goal is physical fitness to better your best. The commandant of the Marine Corps awards a certificate to each boy who passes the test with a minimum of 250 points out of a possible 500. That means doing at least 27 push-ups, 6 pull-ups, 47 sit-ups in 2 minutes, 29 squat thrusts in 1 minute and completing the 300 yard run in 58 and a half seconds. Teen competition is another incentive. Each year regional competitions are held with the finals taking place at the Marine Corps barracks in Washington, D.C. One group of young men came from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is their story. This city, known for its industry, has every educational and vocational opportunity at hand. Its high school students enjoy these opportunities and benefit from them. But as in other cities, many Philadelphia students are handicapped by the lack of room to enjoy outdoor sports. The school, Mast Bomb Area Vocational Technical High School is located in the middle of highly industrial Philadelphia. Though it enjoys a reputation of graduating students well qualified in academic, trade and technical areas, from the physical education point of view, it is handicapped by its location. It has no area outside the school it can call its own. The school is bordered on all sides by streets and other buildings. Last year, the six-man physical fitness team from Mast Bomb brought home the laurels from Washington. And their success was earned. It was earned by all the boys who participated in that school's program. It has been three years since Mast Bomb initiated the youth physical program on a voluntary basis. Since then, many boys here have accepted the challenge. Some of them had little to worry about passing the minimum requirements. Others, not so talented physically, were seemingly overwhelmed by those same basic requirements. But all of them set goals and all strived toward those goals. For some, it was the certificate awarded by the Commandant of the Marine Corps. For others, it was to answer a simple challenge. Better, your best. Though it lacked the best all-around outdoor facilities for athletics, the school succeeded in making the best use of every available indoor space. They trained both inside and in the limited space outside the building. Distance running, not part of the physical fitness program, but good for overall conditioning, was done in the parking lot. Pylons are the markers for distance completed. Training for the 300-yard run was done in an upstairs hallway. The only place inside the school long enough to run the 60-yard laps required. Pylons were set at each end of the hall, and the boys ran the course one at a time, fighting the additional handicap of a tile floor. Sit-ups, push-ups, and squat thrusts need only an empty stretch of floor. That posed no problem. The boys were able to do them anywhere. Chin-ups were practiced in a remedio-physical education gym, but they were practiced on a makeshift chining bar using a ladder-like piece of equipment. To wind up each exercise session, the boys raced four times up and down the school's back stairs. Often the boys needed encouragement. The coach and mast bomb, Mr. Ralph J. Recapito, was ready to keep the interest of all his students. He encouraged them personally as they trained, and he encouraged them publicly before the entire school. The Better Your Best Bulletin Board displayed all the achievements of each boy for all to see. As soon as the boy made new progress, he received credit on that board. Mr. Recapito is largely responsible for the success of the program at his school. He is of that rare breed that can transmit his own enthusiasm for physical fitness to others and have them willingly perform to their utmost. This program has meant many things to me and to our school. It has taught us a lesson, one that many people have forgotten. Not too long ago, it was an accepted philosophy that worthwhile goals were achieved through hard work. Recently, that attitude has been changing. Many people are living in such a rapid pace that goals are rarely set, and if they are, the shortest way to them is chosen all too often. Physical fitness doesn't allow cutting corners. There's only one way to reach predetermined goals, through work and extensive training. Poor performance gains nothing. Discipline training gains everything. I've seen our boys learn and apply this attitude to their school activities. And most important, I've seen them take pride in what they achieved. One of our primary concerns here is to build pride and self-confidence in our young men. Though we work hard at this, in shop, academic subjects, and extracurricular activities, we are always looking for new boosters. Physical fitness has been our most recent success. We were able to do well in the entire program. We achieved physical fitness with the students who participated, and we were successful in the competition against other schools. And we were well into the training phase. Certain boys began to emerge as our best performers. Not all of them were varsity athletes. We chose six of those boys to compete as a team against other schools in our area. For us, this six-man team roused much-needed school spirit and actually functioned as a varsity team. The school supported this team wholeheartedly and sent it to the Delaware Valley Championship, a regional youth physical fitness meet. Our team won that meet, and went all from there to fill a trophy case with further testimonies of their achievements. Because of this, all of the winning team members were awarded varsity letters by the school. We felt our greatest achievement was to compete in the national championship at the Marine Barracks from Washington, D.C. And not only compete, but finish second, which meant a $500 physical fitness equipment grant for the school. General Foods picked up the tab for the competition, and in addition to our equipment grant, they also provided a $1,000 college scholarship to the highest-scoring high school senior and for every participant a fine-looking blazer. Not only did our six boys benefit from this experience, but so did the entire student body of MassBomb. All felt a sense of accomplishment and a new sense of pride. From out of the nationwide youth physical fitness program, 12 teams have been selected to compete in the finals at the nation's capitol. Different young men from different areas, but they all started with the same desire, that desire to compete and to compete on equal terms. Each man had but one obstacle, himself. It was to be a team effort, but each individual would be in the spotlight. And as individuals, they were ready to prove that they, their teams, and their schools had produced the best athletes that dedication and training can provide. As they competed, their excellent training was apparent. Each man tried to do his best. Each strained to do one more repetition after every ounce of strength was used. No one lost in Washington. Everyone was a winner. Everyone had in some way bettered himself. But there were outstanding winners, and they were rewarded at one of Washington's finest hotels. The speaker at last year's banquet was Secretary of the Navy, John H. Chafee. We congratulate every single one of you who have competed here. And we also congratulate those who are not fortunate enough to be in the winning teams from all over the various six districts. When you think that there are 325,000 young men from 1,350 high schools, you can realize that this was a terrific competition. And we're just delighted, speaking by we, I mean, on behalf of the Marine Corps and also, I speak also for Mr. Annette and General Foods, terrifically pleased that so many competed. You might be interested in what happened to the previous scholarship winners, the two prior ones. The 1967 one, Gary Smith, is now at the University of Iowa, and Bob Meyer is at Springfield College in Massachusetts. The possibilities of this program for all who are involved are limited only by the scope and drive of the participants. Boys' name on a board with a slight recorded increase every week or a national trophy in a showcase. To those who are involved, the Marine Corps Youth Physical Fitness Program is truly a way to better your best.