One Recruit's Parent's Journey

[Syzygyone]

The GySgt came through. My son just called to say he is ensconced in his hotel roon for the night, just waiting for the medical verdict tomorrow. Several other recruits are with him so that's good. He says he has a ship slot and they already have his plane ticket and his orders will be cut, all depending on what the Doc says. My son says his foot feels and looks fine but what will the Doc say? This reminds me of my days being Marine Drilled in Naval AOCS. My most hated evolutions involved not DIs but doctors.

He'll be able to call us tomorrow after the med inspect because he will be transported back to the hotel to await transport to the airport. So, in the meantime, we'll be thinking positive thoughts and please be wooing the "wart kill god". We certainly will!

[Syzygyone]

Got a call from our son last night around 2100 MDT and we made backup arrangements to pick up his back pack and a copy of his orders from the hotel. His mother and I can't figure out why they would take him to the hotel to await transport to the airport. We don't know when his flight out will be be we think around 1700 MDT. In any event, it is important to get a copy of his orders for purposes of the Soldier's and Sailor's Civil Relief Act actions with lenders and insurance and the DMV.

We'll just have to wait and see what he says when he calls.

. . .

I awoke at 0330 a.m. thinking about whether my son has gotten up. Well, more like worrying if he did. The protocol is to awake at 0330, clean up, east at 0400 and bus to MEPs at 0430. It's now 0630 and I'm at work. Worrying. What else? It all depends on what the Doc says about the plantar wart. I'm cautiously optimistic that the Doc will clear him. As requested by MEPS, our son's personal physician has provided a document that says it's fine.

Stay tuned....

[marinemom]

First of all - told you so, lol.

Do not worry about what time he will get a flight - all transport is designed to get these kids to either Depot by midnight - scare the h... out of them and keep them up for the first 36 hours - he'll be fine.

Just relax a bit - if they haven't called you by noon your time - he is on his way to the Depot - just remember what I said about the 15 second phone call..............it is loud!

[Syzygyone]

Just relax a bit - if they haven't called you by noon your time - he is on his way to the Depot - just remember what I said about the 15 second phone call..............it is loud!

Well, it's 1200 MDT, and no word. . . . .

[Syzygyone]

YOU WERE RIGHT!
Our son, now no longer a poolee, but soon to be Recruit Johns, just called to say he's on the bus to the airport, with ticket in hand, due to arrive at San Diego airport at 1900.
His comment: "F###in' A, Ready to rock"!

I said, Congratulations, I am very proud of you for just signing up to do this but for pursuing it with so much enthusiasm!.

I asked can I give you one last word of advice" He said, YES, SIR! (he hasn't said yes sir to me for years)

I said this: "Do NOT anticipate. Anticipation is always worse than the actual event. Take it as it comes. There is nothing they will ask of you that can't be done and they will show you it can be done. Go show 'em what your made of!"

Again, he said, YES, SIR!.

I like this already!

P.S. He's already made a buddy, someone else who was "screwed' two weeks ago. Probabbly same Platoon (we'll see) and same MOS too!.

Semper Fi! These kids are the future of this great nationa and to paraphrase Frank Schaffer from his books, my wife and I have given the Corps our best.

Now the journey begins. I will try to keep ya'll posted. Thanks for the words of encouragement to date!

[marinemom]

Congrats - and as I said to you before, the feeling that you will get as you see him and his platoon march across the parade deck cannot be described. tigger is a 3rd generation Marine, and I still got shook up.

Now, I could gloat and say I told you so.....but I won't, lol. And remember, the plane may get in to San Diego at 1900 hours, he will not get to the Depot until a whole lot later...the head games begin!

[Camper51]

Congrats - and as I said to you before, the feeling that you will get as you see him and his platoon march across the parade deck cannot be described. tigger is a 3rd generation Marine, and I still got shook up.

Now, I could gloat and say I told you so.....but I won't, lol. And remember, the plane may get in to San Diego at 1900 hours, he will not get to the Depot until a whole lot later...the head games begin!

The handlers met several of us as we got off the plane and we were taken directly to the depot with no delays at all. The fun began as soon as the bus doors opened and that first Drill instructor boarded the bus to tell us to "You have five seconds to get off my f*cking bus and go stand at attention on the yellow footprints, NOW DO IT!!!"

Gee what a wonderful day it was...

[NoRegrets]

Congrats! My Son's ship date was a but messy back in Jan. but in a few days he will graduate Good luck to your Son, I mean recruit

[Syzygyone]

It's April 15, 2008. My son reported to MCRD San Diego exactly one month after he was supposed to ship. The first delay was by his choice to guarantee an 02XX MOS. The second was by MEPS choice and that was hard to take. Long story short, the wart was cured to MEPS satisfation exactly 14 days after the initial temporary disqualification.

When we recevied the call that he was shipping, it took some time to sink in. By the time I called his mom, he'd already placed a call to her AND to his brother. Good news travels fast! The rest of the afternoon I was floating at work. This was such a HUGE relief. Many people wonder why I am so excited and think I should be very concerned. Well, that's for later. For now, we are content to be pleased that, by his own choice, our son, whom we love beyond words, but who had become a constant source of stress and anxiety because of his lack of motivation for school or work, and his choice of "freinds", has taken an incredible step toward manhood. It was very nice, not only to be called "sir" but to hear this child happy, excited, and enthusiastic, instead of bored, crabby and insolent. I and my wife are adult enough to freely admit that we need to assistance of the United States Marine Corps to polish off the raising of this child.

We gave him a throw away cell phone to contact us with while enroute and it paid off. Recruit Johns called while we were out eating an early dinner and left a message that he had met a new buddy and gave us his buddy's parents' phone number. We'll reach out to them in the next few days. My wife is happy that he has a buddy.

So, we popped in "Ears Open, Eyeballs CLick" and began to watch it again. We called everyone we could think of and they unanimously share our joy and pride. He called again to say he was boardng the plane and we immediately went to FLightaware and tracked the flight of our youngest leaving the nest. We printed out several progress reports which will go into his scrapbook.

As we watched the report of his plane landing, he called again, while taxiing, to say they'd made the greatest landing in the world because you could see MCRD right out the window. He also said he got about an hour nap and also that his brother, who is in the final stages of air traffic control training, had managed to pass a message to the pilots of his airplane wishing him personally and all the Marine recruits good luck and godspeed. We all thought that was pretty cool.

We then immediately notified his grandparents. His maternal grandfather is a veteran of the Tarawa invasion and is just very pleased with this whole endeavor.

My wife and I sat through the rest of the evening occasionally looking at each other in wonderment that this great thing has really happened. Jordan had contacted his brother again, saying they were hanging out in the USO, gathering his fellow recruits as the stremed in. It's now 1030 in California so he only has a few more hours before the inculcation begins. So, now, after I go check in with recruit parents.com, I am going to write the first of about 90 letters, as will his mother. We'll store them until we get his address.

Thanks all! Ooorah! MCRD SD FOXTROT

[ScottsMom]

Get ready for an incredible journey. As the marinemom said earlier, when you watch your son walk across the parade deck it will be the proudest moment of your life, as well as your sons. Joining the Marine Corps (my son was the 11th family memeber to join) was the very best thing that could have happened to my son and although he is a new Marine (November 2007), he is so very proud of what he has done and will hold his head up high to defend his Country. OOH RAH!!!

[Syzygyone]

I woke up at 4:30 wondering what he was doing. He's probably already had his hair cut but that’s nothing new to him as he had a friend buzz his head about a month ago. When I was in AOCS, I came to look forward to the haircuts because the vacuum hose from the clippers was pleasantly cool and the aftershave the put on after the razor cut was really refreshing. Usually that pleasure lasted only until you got back outside and once again, we were back doing pushups.

I’ve been doing research on marineparents.com and especially on recruitparents.com. Tons of very helpful people who have gone through this experience and are willing to share. We found the thread for MCRDSD 2RTBN Fox and I will be posting there regularly. We also found out the colors. We think 2nd is Yellow. That’s a coincidence because I was in the 2nd at Pensacola and our color was yellow too. When we passed the first room, locker and personnel (RLP) inspection and were "secured" after 4 weeks, we were allowed to wear our colors and had white tape on our name tags, signifying the second phase of that training. We had logos designed. Since this was our D.I.’s first class, our saying was, “1781 – SSgt Walker’s First Blood". The design had an F-14 silhouette with a squadron logo of heart pierced by sword dripping blood! We were pretty proud to wear those colors. My nickname was Cro-Magnon, due to the shape of my shaved head. Jordan's mom acted as our class “Mom”. She brought us geedunk and material for our flag, etc. I think she even sewed it. She got a jersey too and since she was eight months pregnant with our oldest son, her nickname was WONANAHAF!

The weather here today is getting pretty cold again and it actually started snowing big time. So much for spring time in the Rockies, eh? I chuckled though when I thought that my son's previously favorite pass time was turning donuts on icy parking lots. At least he won't have to deal with cold temperatures.


Also, I’ve been reading on the boards that each platoon will have a “witch doctor”. He’s a guy who carries band-aids and tape and moleskin if anyone gets small cuts or blisters or sore spots on their feet. That’s pretty common so I am sure the USMC has it figured out plus I am told that they are always accompanied by a Corpsman! That makes me and Jordan's mom feel better.

Jordan's mom keeps asking me things like, do you think they've eaten yet? or when is lights out? I can only respond that in my experience we were fed three times per day and had no trouble falling asleep at night. I am betting that tonight, Wednesday April 16, is the first time you have slept since 0330 Tuesday morning.

My questions are more toward the specifics because I remember that’s what I was focused on when I was in. What uniforms have been issued so far? How many? Footwear? How well do they fit? Frame of reference is interesting.

Jordan's mom said she felt discombabulated all day, kind of like she's moving around without an appendage. That really is accurate. We are now true empty nesters and the Marine Corps now has our 6' 3" 200 pound baby. We've not received even the brief phone call and certainly no letter yet so we are struggling to deal for the first time, with not knowing. We take solace in the statements by others that no news is good news.

So ends day three, the first day of adjustment and wondering. God bless all the troops and especially the recruits and families of MCRDSD 2nd RTBN Fox Company!

[Syzygyone]

I awoke at 0500 this morning, once again wondering what he was doing. I hoped he was still asleep out there and could have a chance for a decent breakfast this morning. Which lead me to wonder how is the food so far? I know this is only receiving and forming but the chow is probably the same all the way through. I contented my self with the thought that today at least, he'd probably have time to eat.
It's snowing in Colorado and I chuckled that at least he wouldn't have to be dealing with freezing temperatures. Work passed normally, all the while I was wondering if you would be able to call as others have said to expect.

We just got the call at 1835 PDT, 17 April. It was collect as we expected and from the 619 area code. Very short, monosyllabic responses and very soft. We heard tiredness in his voice but when I asked if he’d had his head shaved and got his uniforms, his response was, “Yep!” When I asked about boots and if they fit, he said “Yes sir!” I asked how he was doing and he said "Tomorrow is the big day we meet the D.I.’s. Then, that quickly, he had to go. One more we love you and are proud of you and it was over. We could hear others in the background.

It took a second or two to register that that was him who had called, calling from United States Marine Corps boot camp. We are, as are all of you we're sure, so very proud of them and what they have chosen to do. I tried to explain to his mom why I feel he's doing okay despite the lack of his normally high energy voice. But mom’s think differently. Ooorah to all the Recruits of Fox Company! Tomorrow will come and go and they will be one day closer to becoming a United States Marine. WOW! I still can't quite get my head around that.

[NoRegrets]

We didn't get the first call because My Son got their late do to a lay over in Dallas. I only talked to him once in bootcamp and I asked who is this when he called. Poor kids voice was so horse. He was plenty sick in boot camp and said never had he been that sick in his life. My Son is grauduating tomorrow so when he gets home he can go to the DR.

You guys should get the movie "Ears, Open. Eyeballs Click" it is one of the best videos i've seen that actually details the life of a recruit!!! I also bought "The Making Of A Marine". I have watched them often.

[Syzygyone]

We didn't get the first call because My Son got their late do to a lay over in Dallas. I only talked to him once in bootcamp and I asked who is this when he called. Poor kids voice was so horse. He was plenty sick in boot camp and said never had he been that sick in his life. My Son is grauduating tomorrow so when he gets home he can go to the DR.

You guys should get the movie "Ears, Open. Eyeballs Click" it is one of the best videos i've seen that actually details the life of a recruit!!! I also bought "The Making Of A Marine". I have watched them often.

We've watched "Ears,," several times. Just great. Didn't know about Making of a Marine. Will go find that tomorrow.
Glad you son made it and I wish him all the best!

[NoRegrets]

We've watched "Ears,," several times. Just great. Didn't know about Making of a Marine. Will go find that tomorrow.
Glad you son made it and I wish him all the best!

Thank you... I got my making of a Marine movie at Sams Club before he left for BC so we watched it together a bunch..The stories I am hearing now are something else! My Son and I have a lot to catch up on..