One of a series of articles about the rigors of Marine Corps Boot Camp based on letters we received from our daughter while she was at Parris Island on her way to earning the title of United States Marine.
In this letter from Parris Island, Marine recruit Andrews was both upbeat and downbeat.
She started off by writing about how a chaplin gave her platoon a free-time talk, and how they ended up singing “We Are Family.”
(Seems like an appropriate choice for female recruits.)
“See, there are fun things to do at boot camp”. Just not many.
In the downbeat side of the letter, she wrote that the platoon was having a hard time coming together and working as a team, as an example she mentioned a 5K hike they went on that ended with the platoon being dressed down by the D.I’s for yelling, cursing and pushing each other.
She went on to write:
“Drill sucks, I’m not sure if I’ll ever enjoy it or get the hang of it.”
(I’ll have to ask her, I don’t know if she ever came to like it, but based upon what I’ve seen, she sure as hell came to get the hang of it.)
“I just mind my business, sound off, and attempt to survive.”
“The food is OK, eating meat hasn’t made me sick.”
(Until she got to boot camp, she was a vegetarian.)
She made note of the fact that the knowledge classes were nerve-racking because “We have to scream “Yes Sir” or “Yes Ma’am” before and after each statement and that so much information is thrown at us that the only way to memorize things is through the use of “ditties”, such as when the D.I. asks things like “2 Marines 2 Medals” we will answer “Ma’am 2 Marines 2 Medals are Dan Daly and Smedley Butler Ma’am.”
(Dan Daly and Smedley Butler are the only two Marines in history to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor twice.
“The next set of female recruits come onto Parris Island tomorrow so we are no longer the “babies”.
She finished her letter from boot camp by asking us to send her some pictures from home, she wrote that the recruits would be allowed to keep some photos in their foot locker.
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Former Marine
Sounds so much different than when I went through boot camp. She sounds like she's handling it very well, though. With women, there will always be others being "catty". Put a bunch of women in a room together and sooner or later, hell will break loose. In the beginning, we all didn't get along with each other, but then we learned that if we wanted to get through this, we HAD to work together. I was 21 when I joined, slightly older than some of the other girls. We even had some moms in our barracks. Because at the time that I had joined, women were not allowed in combat, therefore, most of our classes were nothing but history and knowledge, something I will admit, I totally hated. I never even saw a picture of a gun, let alone fire one. Some of us traded "favors" with other girls -- I was good at ironing, and I really liked to do it, so I traded ironing with another recruit for her making my bed, as I was never too good with those corners. Just tell her to keep in mind why she joined. Graduation day will be something she will never forget. 33 years later,( YIKES - has it been that long??) When I think of all those men and women, young and old, fighting for our freedom, protecting our country, it makes me very proud to call myself a Marine. (you should see the looks I get and the comments I hear when people find out I am a former Marine.) I don't regret one moment I spent, in boot camp or performing my MOS. Semper Fi!!
Posted by: Nancy Whipple on 07/27/2011
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