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thedrifter
11-22-07, 03:47 AM
Recruits grab chance to send love to the homefront
Published Thursday November 22 2007
By DAN HILLIARD
dhilliard@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5531

Marine recruit Megan Sindelar's family has written her religiously throughout her two months of training on Marine Recruit Depot Parris Island.

Wednesday night, she got the opportunity to give them something in return.

"There are some girls in our platoon with children at home, and they've gotten so much motivation from picking out stuff for their families," the 19-year-old recruit said. Originally from Akron, Ohio, Sindelar will be home by Dec. 21.

Over the course of three days, more than 4,000 Marine recruits visited the Parris Island Exchange and purchased presents for family and friends back home.

About 1,000 volunteers from civic groups throughout the Beaufort area were on hand to wrap the gifts and spread some holiday cheer.

"It's great," said volunteer Al Wood of Dataw Island.

"There are a lot of grandma's here, after all. They ask the recruits where they're from, how they're doing. It gives them a chance to relax a little bit."

The Marine Corps began allowing its recruits to shop for gifts during the holiday season during the Vietnam War, said organizer Rocio Marin Riley, who has volunteered for the Marine wrapping party 12 years running.

The program was discontinued from 2000 to 2005, she said.

Riley also said she comes back year after year to give the recruits some relief from their drill instructors, who observe the recruits from afar with tight lips.

"It's so much fun," she said. "My

favorite part is when I get to tell the DIs to get the hell out of here so we can sing some Christmas carols."

Though most of the recruits continue to follow every sentence with "sir" or "ma'am" and refer to themselves in the third person, as is required of them in training, some manage to loosen up, Riley said.

One recruit in particular stands out in her memory, she said. A recent

immigrant from Portugal, the recruit purchased a bottle of bath oil to send home to her mother.

A female drill instructor came up behind her and jokingly told her the only thing her mother needed back home was the USMC.

The recruit replied, "No, ma'am, my mother is a very sophisticated lady."

Rochester, N.Y., native Elizabeth Olmeda, 19, bought some shirts emblazoned with the Marine logo to send home to her grandmother, she said.

"It feels good to get out of the squadron," she said.

"They're going to be happy. I mean, I write them, but I don't write them a lot. This symbolizes me entering the Marine Corps."

Like Sindelar, Olmdea should finish the 13-week training course in time to go home by Dec. 21.

"It feels good to know that this recruit's going home for Christmas."

Ellie