Lt. Col. James McBride recently retired after a 25-year career in the Marine Corps. Of course, in Butte, we call him Jim or Jimmy.

McBride is a 1992 graduate of Butte Central High School. He attended the Hawthorne and Hillcrest elementary schools in Butte before going to Butte Central Junior High and then Butte Central High School. 

Six days after graduating from BC, he began boot camp in San Diego.

By becoming a Marine, Jim followed in the footsteps of this father, Bill, and older brother, Sean. He said he reluctantly became a Marine after his plans for the Naval Academy fell through. In high school, though, we all assumed Jim would be a Marine. He just always looked like one.

Jim played football at Butte Central, wearing No. 72 as he played both ways on the line for the Maroons. As a senior, he earned first-team all-conference and second-team All-State honors.

While enlisted in the Marines, Jim earned a degree in economics from Tulane University in New Orleans. Later, he earned a pair of master’s degrees.

Jim served in many different countries around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, before retiring.

Today, Jim is a member of the city council, representing Johns Island in Charleston, South Carolina, where he lives with his wife, Lynn.

Listen in to this episode as Jim as he talks about his days in the Marines, which includes a bit of mentoring to fellow BC graduate Rob O’Neill.

Listen as he talks about why he decided to run for city council and how he never even paid attention to local politics until he retired. Listen as he talks about some of his friends from high school and why he was reluctant to join the Marine Corps in the first place.

Listen in to hear that boot camp turned out to be just like the movies.

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