OK I'm ready for those virtual tissues

[J._McD]

Well I got my first letter from my son, this is what it said...

Hey Mom and Dad, This sux I haven't slept in about 40 hours, I'm sore from standing in processing lines so much. It's not supposed to get much better so thats not cool. Well I don't get much time so I'd better go. Maybe I'll get to call soon so I'll talk to you later.

And then in very faint pencil on the back of the paper he wrote...Help me get out of here! I guess thats why they don't let them call home for at least three weeks.

I hope his next letter is a little longer and a bit more positive.

Spahappy, I'm not sure I want to tell you this, but this is the way it is, so get a hold of yourself and realize they are making your boy into a man.  

They first wear them down without sleep or rest, then they begin to reprogram their mental processors into disiplined, machines that react to commands and work as a team.  They are in training and they have been doing this for a long, long time with very good results.  It will develope pride and performance.

When you see him at the conclusion of his training, you are going to be beaming with pride and you son will now be seen in your eyes as a MAN.  He will be all growd up and no longer mama's boy, but he will always be your son, and you will always beam with pride because he is YOURS.  You are going to see him as a man serving his country with pride.  And, I salute him.

[Lori]

And just as a humorous reminder - without the Navy - the Marines couldn't get anywhere.

r100rs
USAF - Retired

Thanks!  I have an ex-Marine to terrorize with this!  LOL!  


Thank you for your service!

[r100rs]

Spahappy - The one thing you really should (must) do is to attend his Graduation Cermony.  If I remember right he should be north of Chicago at Great Lakes Naval Station.

Lori - I never said that to a Marine - liable to get my a$$ kicked.

r100rs

[Chas]

When I was at Ames Research Center, on Moffet Field NAS (working on aircraft for NASA) there was a sign in the main hanger which said, "Never Taxi an Aircraft Faster Than a Marine Can Think."

We used to use "Army Spec" when tightening bolts on the aircraft: "tighten it till it strips and then back it off a 1/4 turn."

and the Marines all called the Navy airmen "squids" because they were "just a lower form of Marine life..."

There were all branches of the services in that one hanger, and it got fun sometimes.

[r100rs]

What I always thought was funny about the Air Farce - I mean Force, was that you had to be college educated to be a pilot.  But during wartime, who does the AF send off to fight.  Pilots!  

So who is the "uneducated one"?

r100rs

[stuart]

What I always thought was funny about the Air Farce - I mean Force, was that you had to be college educated to be a pilot.  But during wartime, who does the AF send off to fight.  Pilots!  

So who is the "uneducated one"?

r100rs

I often remind the airforce members in my town that they have lost a lot more airplanes at sea then the Navy lost submarines in the air!

[Chas]

Well, all kidding aside:

I am proud of our armed forces. I am also glad that they have these rivalries - I want them to think that whatever branch of the service they are in is the best one. I want them to make it the best, and they always seem to do so.