Let me remind you that, unlike your children in college or university, Number One Son has no cell phone. No access to e-mail. No telephone access. We communicate using letters, delivered by the USPS. While I may have the e-mail address of his Drill Instructor, there is NO WAY I am going to call attention to Number One Son by e-mailing the Staff Sergeant. :-)
As we have not had a call from the Red Cross or the Marine Corps, he has not suffered broken bones or anything that would require his dismissal from boot camp. The same cannot be said of at least 4 men in his platoon. In his first letter home, three recruits left as they were not "motivated" to be a Marine. The fourth was in limbo, as he was caught stealing food from the chow hall. While this information may be interesting, it does not pertain to Number One Son and we have not asked for any other updates about the status of anyone in his platoon. Other things in his first letter home; he was working to "fit in." not mess up, and to do nothing that would draw attention to himself. Also, the platoon was not too loud, which is not the Marine way. As he was so busy, he really doesn't think about home much, which is good - no homesickness or thoughts of dropping out. Finally, as he is only given one hour of "free time," he doesn't have a lot of time to write, so he asked us to tell the family that he is doing well, has received their letters, And that if we were thinking of sending him something, he would appreciate PowerBars, the large box from Costco, so that they can be shared with the platoon.
The second letter was written on Christmas Day. The platoon was given four hours of "free time," during which he attended chapel for 2 hours and used the remaining time to write us and other members of his family. All told, I think he wrote 5 letters that day. In this letter, he answered a few of the questions we asked of him. Food was at the top of his list and he told us that it is good, but they only get fed three times a day and there are no "seconds." I can imagine that is not enough for the calories that they are burning. We were told by the recruiter that all recruits get 8 hours of sleep, so I asked about that. Yes, Number One Son told us, everyone gets 8 hours except for the men on firewatch. They get seven. During the time he waiting to leave, the Marines have him in a pool of recruits. This pool met once or twice a week for physical training and for preparation of entering boot camp. The physical training consisted mostly of running, pull ups, and crunches (all timed, of course). Number One Son would tell us that he was always the first or second recruit to finish.
Now that he is at boot camp, I asked if he was as good there as he was here. The competition should be much better at Parris Island.
They did a 2 mile run, against two other platoons. When Number One Son finished, he was the first from his platoon, and in the top ten of three platoons that competed that day. I'd say that he is as good there as he was here. [He did run cross country in high school, and I expected that he would be one of the top runners in his platoon].
Keeping abreast of his training schedule, we ask questions of what he has done. He closed this letter telling us "we have a 5K march on Saturday, but it shouldn't be too bad with a pack on. A march is just a walk."
The latest letter arrived on Saturday. Like the previous ones, it was written over the course of a few days. In this letter, he tells us that he can't believe how fast the days are going. He "is living chow to chow, church to church." That really made me laugh. He has his daily goal: make it to the next chow. And he has a weekly goal: make it to church (Church is, among other things, a two hour reprieve from the Drill Instructors). Knowing that we are watching his training schedule, he told us that he was starting Swim Week, and qualified for Swim Qualification 4. The highest a recruit qualify in is Swim 2. He then told us that he going to take Swim Qualification 3. He also answered another question: What is Pugil Sticks? In this exercise, they put two recruits in a "pit" and they battle it out. He went 1 for 2 in Pugil Sticks I. In Pugil Sticks II, the recruit runs up a platform and has to battle another recruit in the middle. You win if you hit your opponent in the head or knock him off. Number One Son went 2 for 2. He closed by thanking us for the PowerBars, which were shared among the platoon. He told us that the recruits are only allowed to eat them when the Drill Instructor allows them, and the day he received them, the Drill Instructor gave his permission to eat them. "They were really good." His postscript was an apology: "Sorry my letters are always sloppy, I'm always in a rush."
No kidding. :-)
The thing that strikes me while reading his letters is how positive he is. He seems to be very happy at boot camp (other than the fact that he isn't eating as much as he'd like). And that helps us cope until we see him on Graduation Day.
Technorati tag: Marine Corps USMC
Comment posted by Andy Donaldson01/11/2010 07:18:37 AM
Homepage: http://blog.macian.net
I know you don't need to hear it, (you already know it), but I'm going to say it anyway. You got a hell of a kid there Gregg.
Comment posted by Garrett Wolthuis01/11/2010 08:16:39 AM
That's awesome, Gregg! It sounds like he's doing really well.
Comment posted by Steve Breitenbach01/11/2010 10:55:46 AM
Homepage: Http://sclaffer.blogspot.com
I'll second what Andy said! Continued prayers and well wishes to your son and your family, Gregg. It's an awesome sacrifice you all have made for us and our country. God bless you all!
Comment posted by Phil Randolph01/11/2010 11:23:04 AM
Homepage: http://philrandolph.com
Wow! He seems to be doing great Gregg. You've done a great job with him and he's obviously carrying that forward into this endeavor.
Keep on keeping us posted on him.
Comment posted by Heidi Wessel01/11/2010 04:05:56 PM
Gregg, Thanks for the update, Awesoe kid from an awesome family!
Comment posted by Chris Blatnick01/11/2010 04:51:01 PM
Homepage: http://interfacematters.com
Outstanding. Thanks for the update, Greg. Very great to hear.
Comment posted by Laurie Hannus01/12/2010 07:52:21 PM
What a great update Gregg! He is amazing...so proud of him. And proud of you and Dor for raising such a fine young man.
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