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I didn’t expect to get much in the way of letters from Ross. He wasn’t a letter writer before he went to boot camp. In fact, I’ve never gotten a letter from Ross in my life. Even when he was in Texas for the last six months before he came back here to get ready to leave for boot camp. I think he called three times. He emailed me another handful of times. (He’s not much of an emailer, either.)
There’s nothing like boot camp to make a boy love his mama. His letters are entertaining. Sometimes hilarious. Filled with hard details, few complaints, and an underscore of determination. They make a fascinating look into what real life inside real boot camp is really like. I’m so proud of him. And I love his letters! At first I was only writing him every other day, thinking he’d tire of constant letters. Now I write to him every single day, without fail. I tuck in with the letters various things that he’s allowed to have–a phone card (I’m ever hopeful!), stamps, extra envelopes, and various clippings–comic strips, newspaper articles, puzzles, and jokes.
I save all his letters. Carry them around in my purse. Read them over and over. I suspect that when boot camp is over and he has phone and internet access again, things will go back to how they were before, so I’m cherishing this boot camp time while I have it! It will probably be the only time in his life that Ross will want (and nearly beg for) letters from his mother every day. And even WRITE ME BACK.
Some selected highlights:
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The day I got here, we came in around 2100 and they yelled and screamed and cussed us all night. We were all pretty much shell-shocked. The way they acted is kinda funny to me now. When we finally got to the compartment, it was 0430. They let us sleep for 5 minutes then got us up again.
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I got so many shots, I lost count. I couldn’t sit down for three days after the butt shot.
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I have been trying very hard to be invisible. The RDCs [Recruit Division Commanders] don’t know my name and I like it that way. They are mean, but I’m starting to see the purpose.
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We can’t talk at any time for any reason and I’m starting to get really mad at people who won’t shut up and we have to pay for them with everyone else.
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I hate boot camp.
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My RDCs are mean, but it’s their job and I respect them.
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I wish I could take a shower by myself for more than 2 minutes, have my cell phone, sleep in, have my truck, eat McDonald’s, and get a day off. I miss you.
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Boot camp is stressful. It’s not like on TV. I mean it is, but on TV all they do is work out and do drills and train. They don’t show you that you have to take tests and prepare for inspections. We have to make our own time to study, like cutting into our 6 hours of sleep and eating with one hand and holding our book in the other. We get from 0700 to 1300 on Sundays to do what we want, but that’s also the only time we have to shine our boots and iron our clothes. I’ve been sneaking in writing after taps.
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The first thing I want to do after boot camp is eat some good food.
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We lost one guy because he punched another recruit. Two guys quit and one guy from the division across the hall deserted, just ran away in the middle of the night.
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I can now make a flotation device out of a set of coveralls while I’m in the water and wearing them in about 3 seconds.
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I hurt my foot but I haven’t told anyone because I’ll miss training so during the PFA I did 75 pushups in 2 minutes (only needed 46), 79 situps (only needed like 50) then I ran a mile and a half on one foot in 12:40.
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I wish I could have windows I could see out of. The windows in our compartment have a white cover so they let light in but you can’t see out of them.
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Mail call is the most exciting part of my day.
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We just got told at 1400 we are all gonna get beat because one of the guys decided to sneak a cookie into his rack and got caught so now we all gotta pay for it. If we are lucky they’ll let us watch fireworks today, but the way this day has started, I doubt it.
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We didn’t get to watch fireworks yesterday. We just marched.
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I’ve decided I hate marching.
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We’ve all been talking about back home. Everybody’s homesick. We have so much to study, we always have a book in our hands. Keep writing me. I’m always excited about mail. Most of the guys don’t get any and they’re always jealous.
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I just did the math to see how much they’re paying me since I’m on the clock 24 hours a day and it’s roughly $1.80 per hour.
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Did I tell you about my glasses? They’re huge, brown, square, and hurt my face. I can’t wait to get contacts again.
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Everybody here is already just counting the days to graduation.
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Write me back. I love getting letters so don’t be afraid to write me as much as you want.
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I’m always tired and everyone is fighting sleep. Boot camp is getting better. The physical stuff doesn’t really bother me anymore. They can’t really hurt me now. I think the hardest part is getting homesick. There’s not a single person here who doesn’t want to go home.
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Today they got us all at attention and were asking us questions. If you got one wrong, you had to do 8 count body builders. I got mine right and they still made me do it. Then they asked us to pick a number between 1 and 12 and of course you can never get that one right.
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I can’t wait to see you at graduation.
*
The dates on his letters are always way, way behind from when I get them. This is the last 2 weeks worth of letters. I usually get a batch on Fridays–they can receive mail every day, but are only allowed to mail letters on Sundays. So tomorrow I will get more letters.
I love Fridays!!!!
P.S. I didn’t get back the questionnaire I sent him–but I know he got it because he answered all the questions in one of his letters. He wrote the answers down on a separate sheet of paper instead of sending back the questionnaire. I think….he wanted to keep it!!!
Update: See his Navy Boot Camp Graduation here and read the beginning of his Navy journey here.
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on July 22, 2010
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Hugs Granny Trace
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God bless Ross and God bless you.
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“The first thing I want to do after boot camp is eat some good food.” I’m sure you’re taking a cooler of food so he has a choice of something to eat before getting on the next plane!
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I wrote all the time when my DH was in the Navy and gone. Loved those letters
7:44
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‘Lucy’
8:07
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Love Army MOM
8:12
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those letters are a treasure–thank you for sharing a little light into what men all over the country are doing for us
i’m so proud of your son
8:18
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Great to hear he’s doing so well!
8:23
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The pay never gets that much better when you consider they’re on call 24/7 their whole military career.
Oh well.
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My favorite line: “…don’t be afraid to write me as much as you want.”
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Love love love reading about your son’s experience. You are a great mom, Suzanne.
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By the way, my mom still has letters my grandfather wrote home when he was in boot camp before entering WWI (yes, WWI not II). He never had to go overseas because after boot camp someone got the measles or mumps so he was quarantined, so by the time he went through all of that the war was over. They’re amazing reading and I’m so glad his sister kept all his letters.
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Beautiful!
9:53
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It was so interesting when my daughter was in bootcamp – we went down for graduation and they had some free time. All the soldiers went to the PX for hamburgers and to develop photos. Taking pictures was huge!
I still have her letters. Beth – the old goat
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I’m sure you are enjoying the letters. Graduation will be a proud time.
10:38
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Please tell him that I appreciate what he is doing and am prouder to be an American because of it. I am sure I am not alone in that!
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Hearing from home when overseas was the highlight of the day. To receive packages was great, too. Our Grandson is in the Army, he deploys to Iraq in September. Married and has a 5 month old daughter. Thank goodness for all the ways we have to keep in touch. Thank you Suzanne for sharing. Know it is still a hard time for all of you. Take care.
11:31
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I too would love to write a letter to any soldier that doesn’t get mail – to let them know that we care and appreciate them for taking care of us and our country – so add me to the list if it ever comes to fruition.
He is such a sweet boy and it is a testament to you that he misses you and the family so much. Nice job Mom.
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Smart boy you have there…I hope you get plenty of more letters tomarrow.
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When in boot camp my son ended up being in charge of the irons. I thought that was so funny. He had never ironed anything in his life, but took it so seriously and got really upset if they didn’t return them on time, etc. Even now he is the ironer in the house and Easter Sunday ironed both his little girl’s dresses for church!
Ross’s letters would make a great book. Maybe he will become a writer too!
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I hope your son does as well…
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not that birth control was on my mind at ten – i was going to join the convent so i wouldn’t have to deal with “the monthlies” – for some reason, i thought nuns ere exempt, like some sort of neutral gender.
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wasn’t gonna find a girl who would talk to ‘em! =-) (And that’s the clean version!)
And he’s not telling you everything! He’ll still have stories when he gets home!
I know you miss him. And he misses you too.
=-)
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Of course, that was way back in the late 1950s.
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My dad hated his, I hated mine and your son his. Glad to see some things never change
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Boot camp is nasty here too, really hard. Its a test. They push them hard and not just physically. They try every way they can to get you to quit now. There’s no “good job”. No matter what you do, they will always find something wrong to punish you for. They want to know now if you are going to get discouraged and depressed and quit. You don’t hear a nice word from anyone for the whole time.
Tell him not to get discouraged. Real navy life is not like that. Once you are out of boot camp and working, its much better. They do all they can to help you and strengthen you then. They work for you, not against you, once you’ve passed the boot camp test. That’s how its suppose to work, anyway.
One more thing about boot camp philosophy (here in Canada)- There are two things you don’t do: 1) disrespect them, never laugh at them. 2) Break rules (They really don’t want rule breakers in the army). No matter how small or silly the rule is, you don’t break it, period. If they really don’t want you, they can make you quit.
Neither of those things will be a problem with Ross. He’s such a good boy! Boot camp will make him stronger and more mature. He’ll be a man when you see him again!
I have a very good girlfriend in the army. She’s an ammo tech. They took her at 40 years old!. Can you believe it!
Sounds like he’s going to make it just fine, good attitude! Hang in there, Ross!
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As an army mom who has been through three deployments so far….you sharing the letters brought back memories. Keep sharing what you think are the most mundane parts of your days. It’s definately what he wants to read about. And what keeps him going during those long marches he hates.
Thank you Ross for volunteering to do a job that is such a great service to our country.
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I wonder if he realizes that the reason the glass is covered is that on board a ship, there are NO windows. The occasional porthole, but on military ships, even those are few. They’re trying to get them used to not being able to look outside. Some people just can not handle not being outside or being able to see outside. This is another way to make sure someone is fit to serve in the Navy. It’s not a good thing to have a seaman flake out after a couple of months at sea because he never sees “outside”.
And yeah, I remember arriving at Lackland Air Force base at 2100 hrs after a flight from FL. And yes, the TI’s do LOVE to shout. That was 37 years ago. Back then, our parents didn’t come to our graduations – at least not that I remember. So it is a nice thing that parents can now attend their graduations.
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I agree getting the letters from them was a insightful look into the real world of boot camp.
Tell your son from one vet family to another thank you for serving.
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I received letters from bootcamp too, I have them still in a rubberband in a plastic box. I’ve re-read them & I too, cherish these letters. It was like he needed me, again. I bought everything he asked for; hunted it down, if necessary -packed it up & shipped it from the post office & felt some good in doing so. I really knew I couldn’t do “enough” for him. I felt a huge void inside me. I still felt numb.
I flew to Illinois & found the Navy Lodge. Snow was on the ground when we arrived. The next day I attended his Bootcamp Graduation, what a proud event! He made a run towards me as soon as the whistle blew! The boy was starving!! He looked hollow & hungry. Right after the ceremony we took him out for food where he had 2 or 3 BIG meals in one afternoon. We took him to Gurney (Big Mall) to eat & walk around & see “normal” stuff that a boy wants to see. When he called to say how well he’d done after “A” school in Dam Neck, VA (Yes, he wanted to be a Navy SEAL), he said “Mom, I ranked #2 in the class, the #1 kid wants a place in California, but I don’t want to go there, so…how about Jacksonville, FL?” (This boy still needed a G.P.S. way back then to find his way home from school). I said “TAKE IT!” He was like…yeah? I’m like …. YEAH! It’s the closest you’ll get to home! Home for us is 2.5hrs southeast of Jax. So, he did.
Into the first part of my son’s deployment…
Oh, in all my praying, I had finally came before the Lord in prayer & I vowed to *never* take him back from the foot of the cross again. I know God loves my son, even more than I do & by recognizing that, I honored God – that He would bring him home safely to family – as I had asked. What a mighty God I serve!
September 2005 he completed his 4 years abooard a Navy Destroyer. I was there every time that ship came in. I couldn’t wait to see him.
So, to all mothers out there who have a son or daughter in the military, know there are other moms like you – who need support just like you – in our time of questions – questioning ourselves as mother’s & feeling alone. You can visit NavyMomsOnline. I don’t have the link (exactly), but you can join & receive so much information & support you will not feel so abandoned by the changes that have taken place. I wish you the best of outcomes for you & your families. May God bless you all.
Brenda – Ocala, FL