I guess he's getting very anxious to graduate as we received another letter yesterday. So, here's the latest from "recruit Huck", our soon to be Marine :)
"It's Thursday morning about 0930. I can hear the motorun (motivational run) going on... families screaming, clapping, whistling, and platoons chanting and clapping as they run past. It's rough to hear it going on because time is going by so slowly. All anyone wants is to be at family day or graduation.
I just finished taking another practice Prac test. It's gotten to the point where I will read, 'What is the policy...' and I already know the answer is "C", tobacco is not permitted in DOD buildings or vehicles.' It's the same for about 60% or more of the test. It's drilled into our heads so much and we take so many tests.
Last night we had a pretty good PT. We marched over to the chow hall and did crunches in the front lawn and the other half of the platoon did pull ups. After about ten minutes we switched. I got a pretty good workout and felt some awesome pain. We all know the Marine Corps saying, 'pain in weakness leaving the body.' My body is really starting to take shape so I'm excited. After PT we received our MCMAP belts (Marine Corp Martial Arts something.) It feels so good to wear them. To you, you'll probably see a belt, but to us recruits it's something we worked hours and hours for; striking pads, getting struck by fellow recruits, getting thrown to the ground, and much more. One thing that I love about the Marine Corps is you have to earn just about everything. Once you receive what you've earned, (a belt) you feel so proud to wear it knowing you worked hard for it and really did earn it. Anyways, I'll continue this letter later.
We had drill this afternoon and sucked. We're a hell of a lot better than first phase but still not where we should be.
Well, it's Friday now. Oh my goodness do I have news. Today I had a working party at the Generals building. It''s a building full of offices with high ranking officers including the Brigadier General of MCRD. It was pretty sweet, but only ten of us were able to work there.We were hand selected because there are so many officers and high ranking enlisted Marines that our drill instructors wanted ten of the most trust worthy and alert recruits. It was sweet. [That's our Michael :)]
After our working party we ate afternoon chow and got hair cuts. My hair is so long... probably like 1/3 inch - at least. Then when we got back from hair cuts we went to PT and we did a mock PFT (personal fitness test.) I did better than great. I did awesome! Improved by two pull-ups to put my total at 14, 20 more crunches for a total of 131 in two minutes, AND I cut 2:20 off of my run time for a total 3-mile time of 24:40. Man o' man was I excited! I still am. Now we're doing more practice Prac tests. I'm waiting for my test to be graded. Wow, I missed 5 out of 139. I am on a roll today. Did someone pray for me or something?
Well, I need to get back to studying. Only 13 days until graduation, 12 until I see Mom and Dad, Kyle and Theresa. You'll be hearing from me again soon - as usual. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I miss you.
Love, Mike"
It appears that this letter was sent the day prior to the last one. It doesn't matter since I'm thrilled to hear that things are going so well for Michael.
I need to keep moving here. Doing laundry and getting things ready to pack - AGAIN! I'm so excited I couldn't sleep last night. Went to bed at 1 am and woke up at 6 am. We will leave for Omaha tomorrow morning at 6 am. I can't believe we're actually flying out to San Diego tomorrow morning!! This has been a somewhat long 13 weeks. All I can say is Thanks be to God and to you for all your support and prayers. Couldn't have gotten thru this without all of you!
Love - Julie
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Last Letter from Boot Camp
This is the final letter from boot camp - written Sunday, November 18, 2007:
"Dear Everyone,
Today is Sunday! We only have eleven days until family day and twelve to graduation. So, this will be my last letter. However this will not be the last post. I plan on having Mom type up a final post on her thoughts of me and graduation. I will also put up a final post on my thoughts of graduation and of being a Marine. If anyone has sent a letter after this I hope I receive it but may not.
Thank you all for checking the blog, but more importantly thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I couldn't have made it without them. I'm sure I'll see some of you in a couple of weeks. I miss you. Semper Fidelis.
Love,
Mike"
I have to add that Ken and I had a wonderful visit with Katie, Ryan and Kyle in New Jersey. Just got home to night and are gearing up for our visit to San Diego. Leaving bright and early Wednesday morning. You have no idea how excited we are to see Michael this Thursday!!!! I'll write my thoughts when we get back. Thanks again!
Love,
Julie
"Dear Everyone,
Today is Sunday! We only have eleven days until family day and twelve to graduation. So, this will be my last letter. However this will not be the last post. I plan on having Mom type up a final post on her thoughts of me and graduation. I will also put up a final post on my thoughts of graduation and of being a Marine. If anyone has sent a letter after this I hope I receive it but may not.
Thank you all for checking the blog, but more importantly thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I couldn't have made it without them. I'm sure I'll see some of you in a couple of weeks. I miss you. Semper Fidelis.
Love,
Mike"
I have to add that Ken and I had a wonderful visit with Katie, Ryan and Kyle in New Jersey. Just got home to night and are gearing up for our visit to San Diego. Leaving bright and early Wednesday morning. You have no idea how excited we are to see Michael this Thursday!!!! I'll write my thoughts when we get back. Thanks again!
Love,
Julie
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Third Phase Is Interesting.....
Ahhh.. another letter arrived yesterday. I can't believe we'll be getting ready to fly out to San Diego NEXT WEEK!! I've got several lists of things I want to take out. Michael already gave me explicit orders of what civie clothes to bring. Geez, these Marines are strict :) I love it!! Anyways, here's the latest............
"I'm back in the waiting room at Dental. It's approximately 0630 on Tuesday morning. I have a follow-up on my oral surgery. I've been feeling pretty good but still have a little trouble eating and I bleed quite a bit when I brush. I'm sure it's normal and nothing to worry about.
Well, our days are interesting here in third phase. Whenever someone in the platoon messes up pretty bad, the Drill Instructors mess up our house. They put a different shoe in different places, (right boot in the shower, left boot in the whiskey locker, right shower shoe in the back of the house, etc.) They make us dump our bags and place different items at different areas of the house and our least favorite, rip off all name tags and markings from hangers, bags, canteen and more. Oh, I almost forgot they make us take all the linens off of our racks. After that they give us either eight or ten minutes to fix the house. There's quiet chaos as everyone scrambles to get their gear and racks made. It's happened four times since we've returned from up north. It really sucks, but what do you do? If only those few people who keep screwing up got dropped.....life would be so much easier. Oh well.
Well, I'm going back to full duty. I hope I get out of here soon. I believe we get hair cuts today. My hair is getting pretty long! We started getting our high and tight cuts last week. They look awesome. Last night when I was shaving a couple of guys commented that I look bigger than when I came - "stockier" is the word they used. They say my neck, arms, chest, and back all look more defined. So maybe you'll notice some change. Mom, I know you were looking forward to seeing me all buff. (yeahuuh... that's my man !) When I look around there are a lot of us that are stockier than we were when we showed up and stood on the yellow foot prints. Chelsea (my cousin for those who don't know the family) sent pictures of when our family took a trip to Colorado this past summer. They're taped to my foot locker so I look at them everyday. I look at myself in those photos and really see how much I've changed. You'll still recognize me but I feel that I've changed a lot. And, not just physically.
We have classes in our house with SDI SSgt. Smack over life values. We talk about family, friends, co-workers, life at home, future jobs, work life, habits, alcohol, tobacco, rape, abuse, having kids, managing money and time, and a whole lot of other things. Some of what we talk about I let in one ear and out the other simply because I don't agree, or don't want to change or need to change an aspect of my life. Other things I really take to heart and plan on using or applying to my life. Yesterday evening we talked about suicide. In the situation given we the recruits narrowed it down to having problems at home. Then we spoke about life at home for awhile. SDI gave us a lot of good info on how to keep a good relationship with your wife, kids, and extended family. He also talked about keeping everyone happy by providing for them. It was a pretty deep conversation and I took a lot of it to heart. I realized that this is one of the reasons the marine corps exists. They teach us more than how to kill or defend, but how to save, care for, and protect others, ourselves and our families. The ARMY doesn't do that. Sweet!
Man, I took two more practice prac tests today. The first one I didn't miss any questions and the second one missed .... like 10 or so. I don't remember but the test had 139 questions on it. I've said it once and I'll say it again, I'm not worried. They are constantly drilling knowledge into our heads and it obviously pays off.
We still haven't left to get our hair cuts yet. I'm anxious if you can't tell. Time has been going by very slowly since we've returned from up north. I don't know if it's because I'm excited to see family, graduate, or if it's because I'm so anxious to get out of this place. Either way all involve time and time continues to drag on.
Well it's Wednesday now. Yesterday I had a working party at the picture place. It was awesome. We walked in and two nice ladies greeted us, showed us around, informed us of our jobs and tasks to accomplish and then showed us to the RADIO!! Oh my goodness. It was great. From 1000 to 1600 (4:00 pm), 6 hours, we listened to country and hip hop and two rock songs. It was glorious to hear music. After our working party we returned to the house and the rest of the platoon was learning how to tie ties.....a full windsor. Sorry, I probably should have mentioned earlier there were 6 recruits including myself who worked at the picture place. Well, I'm standing in line now waiting to take my picture for my military ID. Well, the line is moving. I'll wrap this up so I can send it out today. I miss you.
Love, Mike
According to the Training Matrix this week includes travel arrangements for home today. Tomorrow is a 2 mile run and whatever the DI feels needs to be done during DI time. For sure Prac test and Drill will be at the top of that list. Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) Michael will take the Prac test (a written and a hands on test required for graduation.) This is the knowledge they've been studying and working on from Marine Corps history to first aid and how to report when they board a US ship. They they get to do something fun - repelling. I don't think Michael is afraid of heights so he should enjoy that. Friday is a big day - the final PFT. This is a must to graduate. The guys have been working on this the past 10 weeks and they'll find out who the top man is in PT. Saturday is the company commanders final inspection. He will come thru the company and look at everything - their beds, lockers, the house, and they'll be asked questions - some of them about their knowledge. They'll have their weapons also and will be doing some drill movement during this inspection. All of this to prepare for the battalion commander's inspection next week.
Well, Ken and I are flying out to New Jersey tomorrow to have Thanksgiving and an early Christmas with Katie and Ryan (daughter and son-in-law.) Kyle (our #1 son) will be joining us on Thanksgiving Day. I'm VERY excited!! We'll come home Sunday the 25th, have 2 days to re-group and then fly out to San Diego Wednesday, the 28th. Life can't get any better than this can it??
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. If we receive any more letters I'll update you when we get back.
Love to all and God's blessings for a wonderful turkey day!
Julie
"I'm back in the waiting room at Dental. It's approximately 0630 on Tuesday morning. I have a follow-up on my oral surgery. I've been feeling pretty good but still have a little trouble eating and I bleed quite a bit when I brush. I'm sure it's normal and nothing to worry about.
Well, our days are interesting here in third phase. Whenever someone in the platoon messes up pretty bad, the Drill Instructors mess up our house. They put a different shoe in different places, (right boot in the shower, left boot in the whiskey locker, right shower shoe in the back of the house, etc.) They make us dump our bags and place different items at different areas of the house and our least favorite, rip off all name tags and markings from hangers, bags, canteen and more. Oh, I almost forgot they make us take all the linens off of our racks. After that they give us either eight or ten minutes to fix the house. There's quiet chaos as everyone scrambles to get their gear and racks made. It's happened four times since we've returned from up north. It really sucks, but what do you do? If only those few people who keep screwing up got dropped.....life would be so much easier. Oh well.
Well, I'm going back to full duty. I hope I get out of here soon. I believe we get hair cuts today. My hair is getting pretty long! We started getting our high and tight cuts last week. They look awesome. Last night when I was shaving a couple of guys commented that I look bigger than when I came - "stockier" is the word they used. They say my neck, arms, chest, and back all look more defined. So maybe you'll notice some change. Mom, I know you were looking forward to seeing me all buff. (yeahuuh... that's my man !) When I look around there are a lot of us that are stockier than we were when we showed up and stood on the yellow foot prints. Chelsea (my cousin for those who don't know the family) sent pictures of when our family took a trip to Colorado this past summer. They're taped to my foot locker so I look at them everyday. I look at myself in those photos and really see how much I've changed. You'll still recognize me but I feel that I've changed a lot. And, not just physically.
We have classes in our house with SDI SSgt. Smack over life values. We talk about family, friends, co-workers, life at home, future jobs, work life, habits, alcohol, tobacco, rape, abuse, having kids, managing money and time, and a whole lot of other things. Some of what we talk about I let in one ear and out the other simply because I don't agree, or don't want to change or need to change an aspect of my life. Other things I really take to heart and plan on using or applying to my life. Yesterday evening we talked about suicide. In the situation given we the recruits narrowed it down to having problems at home. Then we spoke about life at home for awhile. SDI gave us a lot of good info on how to keep a good relationship with your wife, kids, and extended family. He also talked about keeping everyone happy by providing for them. It was a pretty deep conversation and I took a lot of it to heart. I realized that this is one of the reasons the marine corps exists. They teach us more than how to kill or defend, but how to save, care for, and protect others, ourselves and our families. The ARMY doesn't do that. Sweet!
Man, I took two more practice prac tests today. The first one I didn't miss any questions and the second one missed .... like 10 or so. I don't remember but the test had 139 questions on it. I've said it once and I'll say it again, I'm not worried. They are constantly drilling knowledge into our heads and it obviously pays off.
We still haven't left to get our hair cuts yet. I'm anxious if you can't tell. Time has been going by very slowly since we've returned from up north. I don't know if it's because I'm excited to see family, graduate, or if it's because I'm so anxious to get out of this place. Either way all involve time and time continues to drag on.
Well it's Wednesday now. Yesterday I had a working party at the picture place. It was awesome. We walked in and two nice ladies greeted us, showed us around, informed us of our jobs and tasks to accomplish and then showed us to the RADIO!! Oh my goodness. It was great. From 1000 to 1600 (4:00 pm), 6 hours, we listened to country and hip hop and two rock songs. It was glorious to hear music. After our working party we returned to the house and the rest of the platoon was learning how to tie ties.....a full windsor. Sorry, I probably should have mentioned earlier there were 6 recruits including myself who worked at the picture place. Well, I'm standing in line now waiting to take my picture for my military ID. Well, the line is moving. I'll wrap this up so I can send it out today. I miss you.
Love, Mike
According to the Training Matrix this week includes travel arrangements for home today. Tomorrow is a 2 mile run and whatever the DI feels needs to be done during DI time. For sure Prac test and Drill will be at the top of that list. Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) Michael will take the Prac test (a written and a hands on test required for graduation.) This is the knowledge they've been studying and working on from Marine Corps history to first aid and how to report when they board a US ship. They they get to do something fun - repelling. I don't think Michael is afraid of heights so he should enjoy that. Friday is a big day - the final PFT. This is a must to graduate. The guys have been working on this the past 10 weeks and they'll find out who the top man is in PT. Saturday is the company commanders final inspection. He will come thru the company and look at everything - their beds, lockers, the house, and they'll be asked questions - some of them about their knowledge. They'll have their weapons also and will be doing some drill movement during this inspection. All of this to prepare for the battalion commander's inspection next week.
Well, Ken and I are flying out to New Jersey tomorrow to have Thanksgiving and an early Christmas with Katie and Ryan (daughter and son-in-law.) Kyle (our #1 son) will be joining us on Thanksgiving Day. I'm VERY excited!! We'll come home Sunday the 25th, have 2 days to re-group and then fly out to San Diego Wednesday, the 28th. Life can't get any better than this can it??
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. If we receive any more letters I'll update you when we get back.
Love to all and God's blessings for a wonderful turkey day!
Julie
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Getting excited about Marine life
Second letter - hopefully in the order it was written:
"Today I was on light duty so I did not do the PFT. About a dozen, maybe more of us stayed back at the house and cleaned the head. After the platoon returned we went to class. The class was on defensive driving. Oh boy! After class we marched straight to chow. Chow was hamburgers, corn on the cob, salad, an apple, glass of milk, stale french fries, and a peanut butter sandwhich. I only ate half the corn and didn't eat any of the apple because my mouth just can't take it yet. I'm still in quite a bit of pain especially in the morning. Oh well, I'll get through it. I've gotten this far, I won't complain about a sore mouth.
After chow we went back to the house and studied. We took practice tests and had them graded. I only missed 2 questions out of 78. The two that I missed I had to write fifteen times. I feel pretty confident on this prac stuff. The other part or portion of the prac test is oral. We go into a room full of dummies and perform three of nine scenarios of first aid. They are all pretty easy and we repeat the steps everyday so........not worried.
Well I thought I'd give you an update on the platoon. We started with 98 recruits and right now we have 90. Two might be getting dropped to PCP because they couldn't do enough pull-ups on the PFT today. We are still living in the same house as we did in first phase. Other than that everything is the same. Just a little extra gear with our dress uniforms for final inspection and for graduation. YAY!!! Well, that's about it from here for now. You'll be hearing from me again shortly. I miss you.
Love, Mike"
Letter #3 -
"It's Saturday night the 10th. (hey, he finally knows what day it is) I'm SO motivated! Senior Drill Instructor came out of his office when I was looking at this photo album and startled me. 'Got any questions Huck?' Of course I have questions. He has the same MOS I do and I'm looking at pictures of cannons, boxes of powder, and huge rounds the cannon fires. I got quite a bit of knowledge from him. I told him I was getting motivated just looking at the pictures and he said,'yeah, you're just seeing a few pictures. There are a lot better times a picture can't capture.' Man am I excited. I want to do the same thing. I'm going to buy a cheap camera and take a bunch of film with me and make photo albums to share with family , friends, my kids and maybe even my grandkids someday. I have to get ready for hygiene inspection. I will continue this tomorrow.
Sunday! This morning started by waking up at 0500 and getting dressed, made racks, head call, squared away the house and got ready to leave. All 90 of us recruits accomplished this before 0530 and we left the house. We marched over to class (I know, I thought the same thing - class on Sunday?) which was over interim guard. This week each day a platoon will have guard and walk around the base while the other platoons have working parties. After class we returned to the house and cleaned for about 20 minutes. Then we went to chow. Chow was same as it's been since processing. I ate fruit this morning! It hurt quite a bit but it was tasty. I tried something new.... peanut butter in between two pancakes. It's really good. I wanted to try something new because after two months of plain pancakes you need a little change. See ya in a couple of weeks.
Love, Mike"
Oh my goodness, Ken and I are chomping at the bit to see Michael. We keep hearing things from other Marine parents on-line that many of the recruits are calling home. I hope we are here if and when he calls. I'd be devastated if I missed it. Haven't heard his voice since we dropped him off on Labor Day :( It's good to hear him sounding so upbeat about his future in the Marines.
We will be flying out to NJ to see Katie and Ryan on Wednesday - Sunday. I'll post any new letters when I can. Then we'll be flying out to CA the following Wednesday, Nov. 28th for Michael's graduation. The time really has gone by rather quickly.
As always, thanks for your prayers, encouraging words and thoughts as we are approaching the final weeks of boot camp. We couldn't have gotten through this without all of you!
Love.................... Julie
"Today I was on light duty so I did not do the PFT. About a dozen, maybe more of us stayed back at the house and cleaned the head. After the platoon returned we went to class. The class was on defensive driving. Oh boy! After class we marched straight to chow. Chow was hamburgers, corn on the cob, salad, an apple, glass of milk, stale french fries, and a peanut butter sandwhich. I only ate half the corn and didn't eat any of the apple because my mouth just can't take it yet. I'm still in quite a bit of pain especially in the morning. Oh well, I'll get through it. I've gotten this far, I won't complain about a sore mouth.
After chow we went back to the house and studied. We took practice tests and had them graded. I only missed 2 questions out of 78. The two that I missed I had to write fifteen times. I feel pretty confident on this prac stuff. The other part or portion of the prac test is oral. We go into a room full of dummies and perform three of nine scenarios of first aid. They are all pretty easy and we repeat the steps everyday so........not worried.
Well I thought I'd give you an update on the platoon. We started with 98 recruits and right now we have 90. Two might be getting dropped to PCP because they couldn't do enough pull-ups on the PFT today. We are still living in the same house as we did in first phase. Other than that everything is the same. Just a little extra gear with our dress uniforms for final inspection and for graduation. YAY!!! Well, that's about it from here for now. You'll be hearing from me again shortly. I miss you.
Love, Mike"
Letter #3 -
"It's Saturday night the 10th. (hey, he finally knows what day it is) I'm SO motivated! Senior Drill Instructor came out of his office when I was looking at this photo album and startled me. 'Got any questions Huck?' Of course I have questions. He has the same MOS I do and I'm looking at pictures of cannons, boxes of powder, and huge rounds the cannon fires. I got quite a bit of knowledge from him. I told him I was getting motivated just looking at the pictures and he said,'yeah, you're just seeing a few pictures. There are a lot better times a picture can't capture.' Man am I excited. I want to do the same thing. I'm going to buy a cheap camera and take a bunch of film with me and make photo albums to share with family , friends, my kids and maybe even my grandkids someday. I have to get ready for hygiene inspection. I will continue this tomorrow.
Sunday! This morning started by waking up at 0500 and getting dressed, made racks, head call, squared away the house and got ready to leave. All 90 of us recruits accomplished this before 0530 and we left the house. We marched over to class (I know, I thought the same thing - class on Sunday?) which was over interim guard. This week each day a platoon will have guard and walk around the base while the other platoons have working parties. After class we returned to the house and cleaned for about 20 minutes. Then we went to chow. Chow was same as it's been since processing. I ate fruit this morning! It hurt quite a bit but it was tasty. I tried something new.... peanut butter in between two pancakes. It's really good. I wanted to try something new because after two months of plain pancakes you need a little change. See ya in a couple of weeks.
Love, Mike"
Oh my goodness, Ken and I are chomping at the bit to see Michael. We keep hearing things from other Marine parents on-line that many of the recruits are calling home. I hope we are here if and when he calls. I'd be devastated if I missed it. Haven't heard his voice since we dropped him off on Labor Day :( It's good to hear him sounding so upbeat about his future in the Marines.
We will be flying out to NJ to see Katie and Ryan on Wednesday - Sunday. I'll post any new letters when I can. Then we'll be flying out to CA the following Wednesday, Nov. 28th for Michael's graduation. The time really has gone by rather quickly.
As always, thanks for your prayers, encouraging words and thoughts as we are approaching the final weeks of boot camp. We couldn't have gotten through this without all of you!
Love.................... Julie
Oral Surgery? OUCH!
Ahh... Phase III must be good and a little more relaxed as we received 3 letters from Michael yesterday. Boy that makes for a great day here :) Here is the latest.
"It's Friday morning and I'm in a waiting room waiting to go into surgery. Yes, I said it.... surgery. I'm having oral surgery to remove two wisdom teeth. I'm fifth in line so I have a little bit of time to write. I'll be sure to fill you in on how it goes. I do know that once I get out of here I go to medical for pain killers and then I'm on bed rest for the remainder of the day. So, it will be nice to sleep all day, but I'll be in a lot of pain and eating a lot of crappy food. Soft diet food here on base is terrible. Well at least that's what I hear.
Holy Crap!! I feel awful. I can't feel anything right now. I feel really tired, drowsy, weak, etc. I've got blood all over my teeth and lips but I don't feel any pain yet. My whole face and neck is numb. It's a really weird feeling. It feels great to lay in my rack in sweats. For pain killers I've been given 800 mg. ibuprofen and vicodin. I'm guessing I'll be in a lot of pain.
Well so far this week we have studied for prac. exam about 6-8 hours. We were issued our dress uniforms on Monday. Tuesday I swam. Wednesday... I don't remember what we did on Wednesday. Swim qual. was pretty easy. I passed 4, 3, and 2 and we don't get to try swim qual 1 here at boot camp. Basically we dressed in camies, boots, put on flak jackets, kevlars, and packs, and a rubber rifle. We had to step off of a 10-ft. platform swim 25 meters and then get out. Then we had to swim 25 meters again. After that we took our packs off and swam 50 meters with our weapons slung around our necks. That wasn't too bad, just tiring. The final test was victim drag. A victim in the water holds onto two packs and you grab him by his flak jacket and drag him 25 meters.
Thursday began the celebration of the Marine Corps birthday. We sat in the bleachers on the parade deck and watched troop formations which included a Marine marching band, the cake cutting, recognition of the oldest and youngest marine present and the reading of General Lejunes birthday message. The cake was enormous! It took five marines to carry it. I
don't remember if I told you but Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Smack and I have the same MOS (job) 0811 Fire Direction Control. My MOS schooling is 6 weeks long and will be at Fort Sill Oklahoma. Senior Drill Instructor put out a huge photo album of photos of himself and other Marines from when he was over seas. He has pictures of himself with several different cannons, small arms (M-16s, SAW machine guns), pictures on ships, helicopters, and plenty more. It's exciting to think of all the cool places I might get to go. I remember when we took a vacation to Florida and toured a battle ship.... to think I might live on one for a couple of weeks is neat. Plus think of the places I can go. I'm starting to get excited and motivated. Well that's all I have right now. Happy Birthday to all Marines and Marine parents reading this.
I miss you guys! Love, Mike
"It's Friday morning and I'm in a waiting room waiting to go into surgery. Yes, I said it.... surgery. I'm having oral surgery to remove two wisdom teeth. I'm fifth in line so I have a little bit of time to write. I'll be sure to fill you in on how it goes. I do know that once I get out of here I go to medical for pain killers and then I'm on bed rest for the remainder of the day. So, it will be nice to sleep all day, but I'll be in a lot of pain and eating a lot of crappy food. Soft diet food here on base is terrible. Well at least that's what I hear.
Holy Crap!! I feel awful. I can't feel anything right now. I feel really tired, drowsy, weak, etc. I've got blood all over my teeth and lips but I don't feel any pain yet. My whole face and neck is numb. It's a really weird feeling. It feels great to lay in my rack in sweats. For pain killers I've been given 800 mg. ibuprofen and vicodin. I'm guessing I'll be in a lot of pain.
Well so far this week we have studied for prac. exam about 6-8 hours. We were issued our dress uniforms on Monday. Tuesday I swam. Wednesday... I don't remember what we did on Wednesday. Swim qual. was pretty easy. I passed 4, 3, and 2 and we don't get to try swim qual 1 here at boot camp. Basically we dressed in camies, boots, put on flak jackets, kevlars, and packs, and a rubber rifle. We had to step off of a 10-ft. platform swim 25 meters and then get out. Then we had to swim 25 meters again. After that we took our packs off and swam 50 meters with our weapons slung around our necks. That wasn't too bad, just tiring. The final test was victim drag. A victim in the water holds onto two packs and you grab him by his flak jacket and drag him 25 meters.
Thursday began the celebration of the Marine Corps birthday. We sat in the bleachers on the parade deck and watched troop formations which included a Marine marching band, the cake cutting, recognition of the oldest and youngest marine present and the reading of General Lejunes birthday message. The cake was enormous! It took five marines to carry it. I
don't remember if I told you but Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Smack and I have the same MOS (job) 0811 Fire Direction Control. My MOS schooling is 6 weeks long and will be at Fort Sill Oklahoma. Senior Drill Instructor put out a huge photo album of photos of himself and other Marines from when he was over seas. He has pictures of himself with several different cannons, small arms (M-16s, SAW machine guns), pictures on ships, helicopters, and plenty more. It's exciting to think of all the cool places I might get to go. I remember when we took a vacation to Florida and toured a battle ship.... to think I might live on one for a couple of weeks is neat. Plus think of the places I can go. I'm starting to get excited and motivated. Well that's all I have right now. Happy Birthday to all Marines and Marine parents reading this.
I miss you guys! Love, Mike
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Crucible Mission Accomplished!
Our latest letter from Michael sounds very upbeat. Our son has been tested and refined and I can't wait to see our soon to be Marine! Here's what he said:
"It feels good to be back down south. Church is not starting for about an hour so I thought I would begin to write. The Crucible kicked ass! It was hard as hell but the feeling when we finished left about half of us in tears. I can't even begin to tell you what all we did because it's all just a blur to me.
The sleep deprivation wasn't really that bad. By the time we got to the reaper (the last part of the crucible) we were all so motivated you'd have thought we were all buzzed on energy drinks and power bars. The food deprivation was rough for some people though. People just didn't know how to ration their food properly to last 3 days. I did pretty well. I ate the little stuff first, the main meal for afternoon chow, secondary meal before evening chow, skipped evening chow and ate anything else before our night evolutions.
The night evolutions consisted of a course that fire teams went through with different tasks. Our first night evolution was a patrol. We patrolled up a large hill and hidden in the grass were field instructors. They would say, 'contact 12 o'clock' and as a fire team we would rush the enemy. Then they whistled. A whistle means a mortar is incoming and we had to hit the deck, laying over our weapons with our faces in the dirt. When we reached the top of the hill there was a bunker with SAW machine guns firing. We rushed the bunker and then the course was complete. Our Second Evolution was a lot harder. We went over and under barbed wire, jumped fences, walls, fell into trenches, crawled through tunnels, and ended by rushing a pill box. The cool part was the whole time real mortars were going off around the course and blanks again were being fired from two SAW machine guns and M-16's. It was sweet. My adrenaline was pumping too. Being the fire team leader is also neat because I call out all the orders for our fire team to move and stop or how to execute an obstacle.
Thursday evening we slept under the stars. No tents, just sleeping bags. It was cold! We woke up, got dressed, packed our sleeping gear and stepped out. The hike to the reaper was about 4-5 miles. It was dark the whole way there so I don't know where we went. We stopped at the base of the reaper and were given an apple and Gatorade. We also changed our socks because our feet are the most important thing to us. By the time the whole company finished the sun was rising behind the mountains and the reaper was visible. When you looked at it the only thing you thought of was, 'Oh crap!' When we walked to the base you heard people throughout the platoon saying one of three things.....'Oh my God!', 'I can't do this', and the most common, 'Oh shit!' I'm not going to lie, the mountain was really steep. Our platoon stayed tight and everyone pushed the pack of the person in front of them. It was team work at it's best.
The way it went was the first hill was really long and steep. Then it leveled off and then the second hill started. The second hill was fairly short but still steep. It again leveled off and then we were stopped at the base of the third hill. Our platoon formed up, we put our weapons at port arms, and waited. On the signal our platoon guideon was raised high in the sky and everyone gave their loudest war cry and we rushed the hill. It was awesome!! When we reached the top about half the platoon and I broke into tears. It was by far a defining moment knowing you'd just completed three of the hardest days of your life.
The hike back sucked but it was great when we got to the house because we were able to hygiene properly for the first time in 3 days. Furthermore, the warrior's breakfast was next on the agenda. Breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, rice with eggs and veggies, steak, bagels, pancakes, and a slice of cake. Then on the salad bar were cereals of all sorts. On the tables were A-1 steak sauce, Tabasco sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper. We had ice cream machines working too. It was delicious. We all ate way too much food.
Well, so now Third Phase starts. I'll be sure to write and let you know what all is going on. Church is about to start. I miss you guys!
Love, Mike"
There's a P.S. to Mom asking that I bring his digital camera and I-pod to graduation. He says he NEEDS to hear music :)
He also sent a letter to his Dad:
In this letter Michael reports, "As for my rifle range score, it went up! During field week we had moving targets and close range fire qualifications. Apparently I did REALLY well that my score was raised to Sharpshooter. My badge is cool too. You'll see it at graduation."
Ken asked if we'd see him on Thursday morning (before graduation) at the motivational run. Michael drew a diagram showing us approximately where he'd be in the platoon line-up. (Only Michael would do that!) He said that by the second and third mile he may be back a little further though :) He says he's definitely not the strongest runner there, but still does well.
Yep, I received a letter too :)-
I'd sent him a letter with a special prayer about the crucible. It explained how I'd be right there with him all the way. Michael received that letter and prayer the day before the crucible. I told him to fold it up and stick it inside him helmet. He'd never really thought of me going thru boot camp like that but now can only imagine. He said, "Oh man, did I cry!"
He'd gotten another mail call that night and received a TON of mail. He says, "I only read one from you, one from Dad, and two from Pastor Art! I cannot believe what the church did and REACH too! That put me in tears as well. OH! I got a letter from Si Jambo too. That was exciting to read."
Inside the envelope with letters to Ken and I was a dog tag. One side has the Prayer of Salvation on it. The other side has Joshua 1:9 on it: "I will be strong and courageous. I will not be terrified, or discouraged; for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go." I'm anxious to hear the story behind the dog tag. I'm wondering where he got it and whether or not he was able to take it with him on the crucible.
One final note...
I debated writing the parts of Michael crying. I don't tell you that to embarrass him but to let you know how much all of your prayers, thoughts and letters have carried him through the past weeks of boot camp. Most notably, throughout the Crucible. I'm sure that we can all remember moments in our lives when we've been brought by tears. A "real" man is not afraid to cry!
Until the next letter or some other important tidbit of info you might be interested in..... TTFN and love you all!
Julie
"It feels good to be back down south. Church is not starting for about an hour so I thought I would begin to write. The Crucible kicked ass! It was hard as hell but the feeling when we finished left about half of us in tears. I can't even begin to tell you what all we did because it's all just a blur to me.
The sleep deprivation wasn't really that bad. By the time we got to the reaper (the last part of the crucible) we were all so motivated you'd have thought we were all buzzed on energy drinks and power bars. The food deprivation was rough for some people though. People just didn't know how to ration their food properly to last 3 days. I did pretty well. I ate the little stuff first, the main meal for afternoon chow, secondary meal before evening chow, skipped evening chow and ate anything else before our night evolutions.
The night evolutions consisted of a course that fire teams went through with different tasks. Our first night evolution was a patrol. We patrolled up a large hill and hidden in the grass were field instructors. They would say, 'contact 12 o'clock' and as a fire team we would rush the enemy. Then they whistled. A whistle means a mortar is incoming and we had to hit the deck, laying over our weapons with our faces in the dirt. When we reached the top of the hill there was a bunker with SAW machine guns firing. We rushed the bunker and then the course was complete. Our Second Evolution was a lot harder. We went over and under barbed wire, jumped fences, walls, fell into trenches, crawled through tunnels, and ended by rushing a pill box. The cool part was the whole time real mortars were going off around the course and blanks again were being fired from two SAW machine guns and M-16's. It was sweet. My adrenaline was pumping too. Being the fire team leader is also neat because I call out all the orders for our fire team to move and stop or how to execute an obstacle.
Thursday evening we slept under the stars. No tents, just sleeping bags. It was cold! We woke up, got dressed, packed our sleeping gear and stepped out. The hike to the reaper was about 4-5 miles. It was dark the whole way there so I don't know where we went. We stopped at the base of the reaper and were given an apple and Gatorade. We also changed our socks because our feet are the most important thing to us. By the time the whole company finished the sun was rising behind the mountains and the reaper was visible. When you looked at it the only thing you thought of was, 'Oh crap!' When we walked to the base you heard people throughout the platoon saying one of three things.....'Oh my God!', 'I can't do this', and the most common, 'Oh shit!' I'm not going to lie, the mountain was really steep. Our platoon stayed tight and everyone pushed the pack of the person in front of them. It was team work at it's best.
The way it went was the first hill was really long and steep. Then it leveled off and then the second hill started. The second hill was fairly short but still steep. It again leveled off and then we were stopped at the base of the third hill. Our platoon formed up, we put our weapons at port arms, and waited. On the signal our platoon guideon was raised high in the sky and everyone gave their loudest war cry and we rushed the hill. It was awesome!! When we reached the top about half the platoon and I broke into tears. It was by far a defining moment knowing you'd just completed three of the hardest days of your life.
The hike back sucked but it was great when we got to the house because we were able to hygiene properly for the first time in 3 days. Furthermore, the warrior's breakfast was next on the agenda. Breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, rice with eggs and veggies, steak, bagels, pancakes, and a slice of cake. Then on the salad bar were cereals of all sorts. On the tables were A-1 steak sauce, Tabasco sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper. We had ice cream machines working too. It was delicious. We all ate way too much food.
Well, so now Third Phase starts. I'll be sure to write and let you know what all is going on. Church is about to start. I miss you guys!
Love, Mike"
There's a P.S. to Mom asking that I bring his digital camera and I-pod to graduation. He says he NEEDS to hear music :)
He also sent a letter to his Dad:
In this letter Michael reports, "As for my rifle range score, it went up! During field week we had moving targets and close range fire qualifications. Apparently I did REALLY well that my score was raised to Sharpshooter. My badge is cool too. You'll see it at graduation."
Ken asked if we'd see him on Thursday morning (before graduation) at the motivational run. Michael drew a diagram showing us approximately where he'd be in the platoon line-up. (Only Michael would do that!) He said that by the second and third mile he may be back a little further though :) He says he's definitely not the strongest runner there, but still does well.
Yep, I received a letter too :)-
I'd sent him a letter with a special prayer about the crucible. It explained how I'd be right there with him all the way. Michael received that letter and prayer the day before the crucible. I told him to fold it up and stick it inside him helmet. He'd never really thought of me going thru boot camp like that but now can only imagine. He said, "Oh man, did I cry!"
He'd gotten another mail call that night and received a TON of mail. He says, "I only read one from you, one from Dad, and two from Pastor Art! I cannot believe what the church did and REACH too! That put me in tears as well. OH! I got a letter from Si Jambo too. That was exciting to read."
Inside the envelope with letters to Ken and I was a dog tag. One side has the Prayer of Salvation on it. The other side has Joshua 1:9 on it: "I will be strong and courageous. I will not be terrified, or discouraged; for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go." I'm anxious to hear the story behind the dog tag. I'm wondering where he got it and whether or not he was able to take it with him on the crucible.
One final note...
I debated writing the parts of Michael crying. I don't tell you that to embarrass him but to let you know how much all of your prayers, thoughts and letters have carried him through the past weeks of boot camp. Most notably, throughout the Crucible. I'm sure that we can all remember moments in our lives when we've been brought by tears. A "real" man is not afraid to cry!
Until the next letter or some other important tidbit of info you might be interested in..... TTFN and love you all!
Julie
Monday, November 5, 2007
See video of Michael's platoon
Woo Hoo!! The platoon video is up. You can see Michael with his platoon. Go to this link:
http://www.devildogs.info/Lima%20Company.htm
You may have to click on 3251 (Michael's in Lima Co, Plt. 3251) You'll see him in the second row from the botton kind of behind one of the DI's. Dang he looks good!
Julie
http://www.devildogs.info/Lima%20Company.htm
You may have to click on 3251 (Michael's in Lima Co, Plt. 3251) You'll see him in the second row from the botton kind of behind one of the DI's. Dang he looks good!
Julie
Michael watches fires that burn the Crucible
We received a letter from Michael last Friday. It was postmarked Oct. 30th. He was writing about the week prior - Field Week (Oct. 21-27). Here's the latest...........
"This week has been CRAZY! Monday morning we woke up went to chow and then started our first hike. We hiked about 2 miles with our packs which weigh about 60-75 lbs. with new gear and MRE's packed for the next couple of days. We stopped at a range where we were given instructions on how to operate a SAW249 machine gun, a safety brief on the SAW249 and then fired a string of about 20 rounds. It was AWESOME. Then our next period of instructions were over the AT4 AKA bazooka. We got a safety brief and then fired a tracer round. The company high shooter was supposed to fire a real round and blow up a gag tank (?) but the weather conditions prevented that from happening. After that we continued on with more hiking. Four miles or so later we arrived at our final destination - the top shelf. It's a big flat area. We ate our afternoon chow and then set up our tents.
Our platoon was the first platoon out of the whole company to have our "house" (lines of tents) set up. It took us awhile, but we finished and then PT'd. As they (various exercise stations) are found everywhere we split half of the platoon doing pull ups on the pull-up bars while the other half did crunches and sit-up exercises. We switched four times, each cycle lasting about 5-8 minutes long.
The next thing I remember doing is hygiene. That was interesting! There is a 3-ft high wooden fence forming a square. Inside the square are racks. We took our blouse and shirts off and shaved and brushed our teeth. For our shower we wiped our faces, arms and chest with a wash cloth using water from our canteen. It was definitely something new. We then had evening chow and hit the racks - well not racks, but sleeping bags.
I had not fire watch, but guardian angel watch. On the perimeter of the shelf there are fox holes (holes about 5 feet in diameter and 2 ft. deep). Another member from my fire team and I sat in there and watched for anyone entering our area or anything unusual happening. After an hour of that we went back to sleep.
Tuesday we learned hand and arm signals first thing in the morning.Then our fire teams did a short patrol using them. It was sweet and I started feeling like a Marine...moving around all tactical and stuff :) After that was gas chamber.
Our gas masks are the M40 gas masks. Basically it's just like you see on TV. A small room and smoke. I didn't throw up and was not fortunate enough to experience snot pouring out of my nose. Then all hell broke loose!
A wild fire started getting really close to base so we were evacuated. Our tents were packed and all our gear got loaded into a convoy of 7-ton trucks. Then we hiked back with just our LBVs and rifles. We arrived on base in the early evening, say between 4:00 and 5:00. We got to our house and unpacked all our gear and then repacked it, making sure no gear was lost or left behind. The sky by this point was a dark brown and the sun was still above the horizon. We ate chow (MREs) in the house. We then got to properly hygiene and hit the racks. Once the lights were turned out I watched the fires from my rack. They were just like you see on TV in the news and movies. Helicopters from Miramar were busy protecting the base too. Although it was a little scary, it was very neat to witness. Wednesday and Thursday went on as planned. The fires got within a mile of our house but were contained in time. We had to wear dust masks to prevent breathing in the ash in the air. By Friday it looked like it had snowed. Wednesday and Thursday we received classes and experienced live combat fire at moving targets. It was pretty fun. Then on Friday we had pre-qual and qualification. I feel I did pretty well. Because of the fires we missed alot of field week. We packed all our stuff up on Wednesday and were ready to leave base to head south, but it never happened. Then there was talk about us leaving on Saturday but that didn't happen either.
Tuesday night, the fires I saw was the crucible burning up. We are still doing the crucible, it will just be a little different. We may not hike the reaper (a really steep mountain), may not do obstacle courses (they're a bunch of coal and ash now), and may not sleep on the shelf where crucible recruits sleep. However, most of the crucible is patrolling and it is done here on the base. So that won't change and we have another obstacle course here on base as well. We'll see what they have us do. Well that's all I got for now. WAIT! Meals and food I ate.....
I don't remember everything but there are some things you may ask.... 'would he ever eat that before now?' I ate cranberries (I never ate cranberries), rye bread plain, chicken with mushrooms and black olives, jambalaya (which I LOVE), and Dad, I ate clam chowder. (Ken loves clam chowder) Hey when it's all you have to eat, you'll eat it. Alright, now that's all I got. Time is running short and I'll be seeing some of you soon. Hope to hear from you. I miss you all so much!"
Love, Mike
Ahhh... he sounds good doesn't he? Won't it be great to hear all the little details and other stories Michael will have to tell when he's home? We haven't heard how the Crucible went but I'm assuming that since we didn't get a phone call all went well. They're really toughening him up! I'm having a hard time getting a sense of excitement over shooting a bazooka or even shooting at live targets. Must be a guy thing! Thank goodness we've got guys like this to protect us.
I have to thank everyone out there for all the prayers that were lifted up for Michael this past week. I am truly humbled by this. Last Sunday night REACH (our church's youth worship team) gave a concert and dedicated a song to Michael since he couldn't be there to perform with them. It was the song "Joy" by Newsboys - a song that Michael always wanted the band to play. Pastor Art and our church family have prayed endlessly for Michael as I know many others have as well. He was truly covered in prayer during the Crucible. I know that God has one hand guiding Michael forward and another hand pushing him toward to the final goal. I'm sure Michael knows that he could not have gotten this far without the support of his fellow recruits and God's presence working through them.
Ok...this is Swim Week for the recruits. I see on the schedule that today and tomorrow is uniform issue. Oh boy! Can't wait to see him in those dress blues and the awesome hat :) Wednesday and Friday are MCMAP test (?). Saturday is Defensive driving and Series PFT (personal fitness training?) Only 4 weeks to go! We'll be seeing him in 25 days!
Until the next letter comes............ love ya' all! Julie
"This week has been CRAZY! Monday morning we woke up went to chow and then started our first hike. We hiked about 2 miles with our packs which weigh about 60-75 lbs. with new gear and MRE's packed for the next couple of days. We stopped at a range where we were given instructions on how to operate a SAW249 machine gun, a safety brief on the SAW249 and then fired a string of about 20 rounds. It was AWESOME. Then our next period of instructions were over the AT4 AKA bazooka. We got a safety brief and then fired a tracer round. The company high shooter was supposed to fire a real round and blow up a gag tank (?) but the weather conditions prevented that from happening. After that we continued on with more hiking. Four miles or so later we arrived at our final destination - the top shelf. It's a big flat area. We ate our afternoon chow and then set up our tents.
Our platoon was the first platoon out of the whole company to have our "house" (lines of tents) set up. It took us awhile, but we finished and then PT'd. As they (various exercise stations) are found everywhere we split half of the platoon doing pull ups on the pull-up bars while the other half did crunches and sit-up exercises. We switched four times, each cycle lasting about 5-8 minutes long.
The next thing I remember doing is hygiene. That was interesting! There is a 3-ft high wooden fence forming a square. Inside the square are racks. We took our blouse and shirts off and shaved and brushed our teeth. For our shower we wiped our faces, arms and chest with a wash cloth using water from our canteen. It was definitely something new. We then had evening chow and hit the racks - well not racks, but sleeping bags.
I had not fire watch, but guardian angel watch. On the perimeter of the shelf there are fox holes (holes about 5 feet in diameter and 2 ft. deep). Another member from my fire team and I sat in there and watched for anyone entering our area or anything unusual happening. After an hour of that we went back to sleep.
Tuesday we learned hand and arm signals first thing in the morning.Then our fire teams did a short patrol using them. It was sweet and I started feeling like a Marine...moving around all tactical and stuff :) After that was gas chamber.
Our gas masks are the M40 gas masks. Basically it's just like you see on TV. A small room and smoke. I didn't throw up and was not fortunate enough to experience snot pouring out of my nose. Then all hell broke loose!
A wild fire started getting really close to base so we were evacuated. Our tents were packed and all our gear got loaded into a convoy of 7-ton trucks. Then we hiked back with just our LBVs and rifles. We arrived on base in the early evening, say between 4:00 and 5:00. We got to our house and unpacked all our gear and then repacked it, making sure no gear was lost or left behind. The sky by this point was a dark brown and the sun was still above the horizon. We ate chow (MREs) in the house. We then got to properly hygiene and hit the racks. Once the lights were turned out I watched the fires from my rack. They were just like you see on TV in the news and movies. Helicopters from Miramar were busy protecting the base too. Although it was a little scary, it was very neat to witness. Wednesday and Thursday went on as planned. The fires got within a mile of our house but were contained in time. We had to wear dust masks to prevent breathing in the ash in the air. By Friday it looked like it had snowed. Wednesday and Thursday we received classes and experienced live combat fire at moving targets. It was pretty fun. Then on Friday we had pre-qual and qualification. I feel I did pretty well. Because of the fires we missed alot of field week. We packed all our stuff up on Wednesday and were ready to leave base to head south, but it never happened. Then there was talk about us leaving on Saturday but that didn't happen either.
Tuesday night, the fires I saw was the crucible burning up. We are still doing the crucible, it will just be a little different. We may not hike the reaper (a really steep mountain), may not do obstacle courses (they're a bunch of coal and ash now), and may not sleep on the shelf where crucible recruits sleep. However, most of the crucible is patrolling and it is done here on the base. So that won't change and we have another obstacle course here on base as well. We'll see what they have us do. Well that's all I got for now. WAIT! Meals and food I ate.....
I don't remember everything but there are some things you may ask.... 'would he ever eat that before now?' I ate cranberries (I never ate cranberries), rye bread plain, chicken with mushrooms and black olives, jambalaya (which I LOVE), and Dad, I ate clam chowder. (Ken loves clam chowder) Hey when it's all you have to eat, you'll eat it. Alright, now that's all I got. Time is running short and I'll be seeing some of you soon. Hope to hear from you. I miss you all so much!"
Love, Mike
Ahhh... he sounds good doesn't he? Won't it be great to hear all the little details and other stories Michael will have to tell when he's home? We haven't heard how the Crucible went but I'm assuming that since we didn't get a phone call all went well. They're really toughening him up! I'm having a hard time getting a sense of excitement over shooting a bazooka or even shooting at live targets. Must be a guy thing! Thank goodness we've got guys like this to protect us.
I have to thank everyone out there for all the prayers that were lifted up for Michael this past week. I am truly humbled by this. Last Sunday night REACH (our church's youth worship team) gave a concert and dedicated a song to Michael since he couldn't be there to perform with them. It was the song "Joy" by Newsboys - a song that Michael always wanted the band to play. Pastor Art and our church family have prayed endlessly for Michael as I know many others have as well. He was truly covered in prayer during the Crucible. I know that God has one hand guiding Michael forward and another hand pushing him toward to the final goal. I'm sure Michael knows that he could not have gotten this far without the support of his fellow recruits and God's presence working through them.
Ok...this is Swim Week for the recruits. I see on the schedule that today and tomorrow is uniform issue. Oh boy! Can't wait to see him in those dress blues and the awesome hat :) Wednesday and Friday are MCMAP test (?). Saturday is Defensive driving and Series PFT (personal fitness training?) Only 4 weeks to go! We'll be seeing him in 25 days!
Until the next letter comes............ love ya' all! Julie
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