Yesterday (Sunday) morning, our phone rang and my wife answered it. A female voice on the other end asked who she was speaking to, and then proceeded to ask her if she had a daughter at boot camp at Parris Island. When my wife told her yes to these questions, the woman said, "Your daughter wants to speak with you." I'm hearing all of this, and a thousand thoughts raced through my mind. I figured this could not be good news because, a few weeks after she shipped, I happened to ask a recruiter if she would be allowed to have a phone card in case she found time to give us a call. His response was that she would not have access to a phone while she was at boot, unless there was some sort of emergency. By this time, my mind still going a mile a minute, I'm thinking that the past week was weapons qualification. I must admit that the thought that she might have been injured didn't enter my mind, rather I was afraid she had some bad news regarding qualifying, as in an earlier letter she has expressed serious doubts about being able to do well on the rifle range. She had written that she didn't think she would do well enough to even earn a "pizza box" (basic marksman medal). So imagine the joy my wife and I felt when our daughter got on the phone and told us that she was being allowed to call home as a reward for having done so well on the rifle range!!!

By this time my wife and I were trying to choke back tears of joy long enough to jam a million thoughts and questions into a short phone call. I still couldn't tell you if she made Sharpshooter or Expert, although I'm sure she mentioned having some idea of how she made out. She also affirmed that she is still her father's daughter.(I do not recommend any recruit doing the following, unless you would enjoy being quarter decked) After putting 10 out of 10 into the black at 200 yards, daddy's little girl approached a drill instructor and said,"This recruit requests butter!" When the D.I., with an understandably questioning look on her face asked our daughter why she wanted butter, she replied, "Because this recruit is on a roll!"

Amazingly enough, we could hear what we learned was her SDI in the background telling our daughter that it was funny at the time, and also warning her not to push the envelope too far. By this time the ten minutes she had been allowed for the call were almost up, and we finished up with telling her how proud we were and that we would be seeing her soon. Not only as our daughter. But as a UNITED STATES MARINE!

See more stories about LCpl Andrews and the USMC at semperfiparents.com

(This article originally appeared on semperfiparents.com on 17 Aug 2010.)

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