MCHS grad is Honor Graduate in Marine class

A Morgan City man, not yet a year out of high school, has earned a boot camp honor in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Shayne LaCoste Jr., son of a 21-year Marine veteran, was named the Honor Graduate for Alpha Company “for his outstanding performance and leadership throughout recruit training here at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island,” the Marines said in a Feb. 13 announcement. Along with the honor comes promotion from private first class to lance corporal.
LaCoste, who had two years of Junior ROTC before graduating from Morgan City High in 2025, says his father, Shayne LaCoste Sr., was an influence that led him into the Marine Corps. His father served for 21 years and left the Corps as a master gunner sergeant. His mother is Crystal LaCoste.
To become the honor grad, LaCoste was chosen from among the “guides” or recruit leaders among Alpha Company’s platoons, which together number 352 recruits.
Each of the guides underwent an examination by a senior noncommissioned officer on the skills they’d acquired during a notoriously rigorous period of basic training.
“As soon as you wake up, you’re doing something,” LaCoste said in a phone interview. “You’ve got someone in your face.”
Despite the physical demands on Marine recruits, “I will say it’s more mental than physical,” he said.
The mental challenges can include homesickness. And failure at learning the basic skills can mean being dropped and returning for even more training.
“You’re dealing with stress, 24/7, for three months,” LaCoste said. “You learn to deal with it.”
Now he plans to make the Marine Corps his career.
“I like the mentality and how they do stuff,” LaCoste said.