Mar. 14, 2009 The Making of a Marine
December 17th....D-day for us. We watched as our son was wisked away in a Marine transport vehicle (a van with a Marines sticker on the side)....just sounded better....hee-hee.....to become a Marine.
My husband and I walked upstairs and cried and cried and cried. We didn't stop crying for two days. Not that we were sad to see him go into the Marines...but we knew he was no longer ours. He now belonged to the USMC. I couldn't protect him anymore...except through prayer.
We have waited 3 long months to see and talk with our son. The day finally came. We packed up our camels, loaded them down with all the goods from our tents and crept our way to Parris Island, SC to watch our son strut his stuff across the Parade Deck with his uniform on and his cover pulled low. He was so handsome.
We arrived at the island at 6:30am and stood under this sign. We were told that they would come and run under here and we would see him. We made a sign that glowed in the dark the said, "WE LOVE YOU AUSTIN PLT 3020". We stood there and could here the platoons chanting their "joeys" in the background. We heard them take off from the Parade Deck area and then they were "supposed" to come and run under this sign.
WELL.......2 hours later that hadn't run under....we couldn't figure out why.
I went into the visitor's center to check out the status of this and found out that we were given erroneous information and we missed him. UUUGGGHH!!! A mama that hasn't seen her son in 3 months is not one you want to give erroneous information to!!! BEWARE!!!
Well, dejected and a little miffed we headed over to the All Weather Building. We watched them parade in and get introduced. The main honcho(can't remember who he was) said some words then we were able to go see our new Marine! I cried, laughed, held him, you name it!! I couldn't believe how grown up he looked, so distinguished in his uniform. :)
We spent the day being led around by our new man and he showed us everyplace where all his torturing took place. :)
This is the sand pit where they did "motovational" PT. Ya, know...the kind were you end up looking and feeling like a sugar cookie when you are done?
The Barracks. This is where they slept, wrote letters, shined their shoes, guns and pressed their uniforms. They did every unimaginable thing under the sun here. Too many to even write about!! Can you say..."I, sir?!" That is all you were permitted to say for 3 months!
The infamous Marine group shower hold. They had 64 naked recruits in here at one time....they had 300 seconds to shower and shave and be by their bunks ready to get dressed. (They could only get dressed if the DI said they could).
The rest of my family experiencing the Yellow Footprints......eeekkkss!!
Now a Marine...he can smirk at his DI. I shudder to think of what they would have done to him had he done this as a recruit. Actually, he told us some pretty scary stories of things they did to him and others when they broke silence. :(
Where did my curly headed little boy go? He is now a US Marine!
There he is #4 from the left. Struttin' his stuff!
We had a welcome home dinner.....he loved it!
His Uncle Chris (a former Marine) and Austin singing the Marines National Anthem. Very emotional evening.
We gathered around him and shared how it was for us as parents that survived boot camp. We listened to him tell us stories of his experiences while on the island. It was a wonderful reunion.
We are headed back to civilian life with our son. He has 24 days with us then he is off to the School of Infantry. He will be stationed in North Carolina at Camp Geiger. He is there for 52 days then off to more schooling....then off to Afghanistan.
Pray for our son. He is fulfillling his calling and defending our freedom.
We are so incredibly proud of him! |
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Jan. 4, 2009 My first REAL letter
Okay, I can let go of the strangle hold I had on the postman!! He will be very happy to be able to get back to work!
We finally heard from our son! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like honey to my soul!
My other son, Jordan, came running in from the mailbox.....it's a1/4 mile away from the house....grin.
He was hollering...we have a letter, we have a letter. He loves his big brother!
All the family was gathered from various parts of the house and we sat in our sunroom. Drum roll please..........
We opened and read that our son was adjusting to Marine life. He said that the Drill Instructors were CRAZY! He said he has never had so much screaming and cussing at him in his entire life! He said his body hurt, he was sleep deprived, and has to get up at 4am to do PT. Of which he said was fun. Go figure!
He said that for punishment many times the DI's will make them hold their M-16 out in front of them for 15 min. He says that the gun goes from being 8#'s to 100 #'s really fast. He said that his platoon messed up on drill the other day and they were sent to the Sand Pit 3 times. Sand gets in every crack and cranny of your body. Nasty he says!
He is thriving in the environment and very happy to be there.
We are just elated to hear from him!
I have become a mailman stalker.....grin. |
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Dec. 19, 2008 A day in the life of a Marine Mom
Well, we sent our son off to the Marines on Sunday the 14th. Sniff, sniff, tear, tear. We have known forever that he would be a Marine someday, but NOTHING and I mean NOTHING can prepare you for watching them drive off in that Marine van. It's like someone is tearing your heart out. Monday at 12:30am we got a phone call from him......"This is recruit Eplett, I have arrived safely at Parris Island, Please do not send me any packages, you will be contacted in 7-10 days with an address to write. Good-bye." I must have spent every minute that night before the call watching the phone and w-a-i-t-i-n-g......seemed like an eternity! I was sooooo thrilled to hear his voice. He sounded good and confident. He is truly where he has always wanted to be. I am soooo incredibly happy for him. He has waited so long for this opportunity. So, now we pick up our hearts off the driveway and do our best to move on without our son here. It is a huge adjustment to say the least. He is learning the art of war and becoming a Marine with pride and convicition. We are so proud of him. |
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