Hi

[Granny]

Thanks Granny! But what do you mean by too many civilians interfering now? Is that politically or something?

And 18 years ago is nothing to a protective mom, I bet you remember a ton. Ha, I remember well some of the battles I got into when my kids were toddlers, that's about 18 years ago. Criminey we've had to change a lot as they got older.

Now my son is enlisting promises from all his brothers that they wont' let me fly over to Afghanistan if he ends up there and goes missing. hahahahahahaha could there be a worse threat to a potential Marine than the thought of mom coming over to rescue him?

I had to revise my plans to hiring mercenaries.

Yes - in great part it is political. There are those among us who would gladly spit in the face of anyone who wears the uniform and think the more the military is hog-tied, the better.

 

[Grey Mouse]

GS, thank your son for his service for me. I understand your conflicting feelings.

As I said, "Thank you for your service to our country" is a nice way of saying "better you than me," because this bullshit phrase came about after the draft was suspended and it was no longer an obligation for able-bodied young men to put in their time. Now we have a military which is de facto mercenary reinforced by real mercenaries called "contractors."

So if I were in the military today and some guy thanked me for it I might just ask him why he isn't serving our country?

Why am I thanking service personnel and not serving myself? Every branch of our armed services have their standards and I don't meet them. (I'm sure I've left myself open for more than a few wisecracks with that admission) And while there are more ways to serve than the obvious ones, its those who have the wherewithal to put their lives on the line who garner the most respect from those who are not able or willing to serve. I understand how and why the "better you than me" attitude came about, but I don't see that in myself or many others who thank our service personnel. I also say "Thank you" to people in food service, retail sales, doctors, veterinarians, etc., but not as publicly or with the same degree of respect I say it to those in the armed services. It was a habit that I got into at a very young age and never bothered to break.

 

[Granny]

Granny must have had another brain pffft.

Ft. Hood is not in NY - I don't know why I'm so hung up on putting it there. Ft. Drum would be in NY - 10th Mountain Division. He will be living about a block away from Lake Ontario ... damn it gets cold up that way in the winter.

 

[Gentle Storm]

Hello. I'm a freaked out mom because my son is joining the marines, so I was surfing the net looking for information about it and this site came up.

I have so much to learn. Not sure how I feel about any of it.

I'm proud but also freaked that my kid will be in a unit at Obama's whim.

I would have said disposal but I'm just too sick about it.

Hi Gentle Storm. I just joined, and when I saw your post, I had to reply. I was in your shoes 4 yrs ago. My son also joined the Marines, right after graduation from HS. I'm still figuring out this quote thing, but I think you said something about worrying that he would be one of the youngest. Most of the recruits are straight out of HS, and will be the same age as your son. I was also freaked out, but that was what he had wanted for a few yrs, so it wasn't a surprise. My son did boot at Parris Island, came home on leave for 10 days, then had 8 wks of infantry training at Camp Geiger in NC, ( he was a grunt) then was flown to Hawaii where he spent the rest of his 4 yrs active duty, minus two 7 mo. deployments to Iraq.

One thing I learned early on, and that was I no longer had any control (for lack of a better word) on my son's life, once he signed those papers. That was brought home by a phone call from the recuiter, when he said from now on, they would act in all matters requiring my son's attention. I know alot of people say they are men (at age 18), but they are very young men, and they are still our babies. I still get emotional thinking about that time, and understand your questions.

As far as "quitting", unless things have really changed, they are not allowed to quit. Some were sent home because of health issues, or injuries, but not because they changed their minds. At that time in boot, there were no phone calls, only letters allowed, part of cutting the apron strings, I believe. Your son will grow alot, and be proud of his accomplishments, and if at all possible, please go to his graduation. He needs the support, and to know his family is behind his decision, and it will be a day you will never forget.

I'm not allowed to post links , but if you google Marine parents, you will find a very good board that will help you with any questions you may have, from boot to the fleet, and deployments. Lots of people there to share with, on good days, and bad. I practically lived on this board the first few yrs, and it made it easier making it through that time. Hope that helps some.

Thank your son for me . I am proud of him also.

Thank you so much Virginia mom! I'm tempted to cut and paste it to my son but I still don't know enough to encourage him in this. Getting a letter telling me that they're in control, that's kind of concerning. It was all I could do to sit still watching my son's football coach scream at him when he was a freshman. Remember when we had clout with soccer coaches? Those days are gone forever

My son gave me a link to that site and another one but I figured it would be whitewashed a bit? A little bit of pressure not to say anything negative if you wanted to. I don't think people would hesitate here, so thanks so much!

 

[masquerade]

Hello. I'm a freaked out mom because my son is joining the marines, so I was surfing the net looking for information about it and this site came up.

I have so much to learn. Not sure how I feel about any of it.

I'm proud but also freaked that my kid will be in a unit at Obama's whim.

I would have said disposal but I'm just too sick about it.

2 USMB!

A special shout-out "Thank you!" to your son!

 

[Gentle Storm]

GS, thank your son for his service for me. I understand your conflicting feelings.

As I said, "Thank you for your service to our country" is a nice way of saying "better you than me," because this bullshit phrase came about after the draft was suspended and it was no longer an obligation for able-bodied young men to put in their time. Now we have a military which is de facto mercenary reinforced by real mercenaries called "contractors."

So if I were in the military today and some guy thanked me for it I might just ask him why he isn't serving our country?

Why am I thanking service personnel and not serving myself? Every branch of our armed services have their standards and I don't meet them. (I'm sure I've left myself open for more than a few wisecracks with that admission) And while there are more ways to serve than the obvious ones, its those who have the wherewithal to put their lives on the line who garner the most respect from those who are not able or willing to serve. I understand how and why the "better you than me" attitude came about, but I don't see that in myself or many others who thank our service personnel. I also say "Thank you" to people in food service, retail sales, doctors, veterinarians, etc., but not as publicly or with the same degree of respect I say it to those in the armed services. It was a habit that I got into at a very young age and never bothered to break.

Thank you so much for your honesty and transparency! And as I read your post, mentioning the "better you than me" part, I couldn't help but think of a slimey convertible type (even though I love convertibles)

I think you'd do a lot better serving than I would. After I wrote earlier about huddling with my girlfriends on the battlefront screaming incoherently, I reflected on that scene. I kept picturing us there with our hair blowing beautifully and our manicured nails shining with a perfect shade while screaming, "WHY CAN'T LANCOME GET ME OUT OF THIS???"

(Lancome is an expensive lipstick)

I keep picturing "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "G I Jane" as my reference for what it must be like training for the marines. To those who know, are those anything close to reality?

My kids been trying to spend time with me while he can and I thought about watching the Officer one with him. I described it to him, I said it was about a kid with a horrible background who looked like he had nothing going for him but drugs and alcohol and he joined the military and got singled out and it was like the drill sargeant made it his personal job to get him to resign. But then it turned into a chick flick and my son was so disappointed Still thinking of getting it though.

 

[Gentle Storm]

Hello. I'm a freaked out mom because my son is joining the marines, so I was surfing the net looking for information about it and this site came up.

I have so much to learn. Not sure how I feel about any of it.

I'm proud but also freaked that my kid will be in a unit at Obama's whim.

I would have said disposal but I'm just too sick about it.

2 USMB!

A special shout-out "Thank you!" to your son!

Thanks Masquerade! Seems like a great board!