More Mail

"Dear Mom,

"I want to thank you and everyone for the letters. And I miss you very, very much. So I think this letter will be for the blog.

"So I arrived at MCRD San Diego at around 3pm. A DI (Drill Instructor) came on the bus, told us to get off and onto the yellow footprints. Then they took us inside and gave us a few bags to carry. Then they had us make our phone calls. After that they had us sit cross-legged against a wall for about an hour. (It sucked.)

"Since we were the first bus load to arrive, they had us do some filing. We filed papers for about 8 hours. If someone would have given me the option, I would have quit right then. That was the worst experience I can think of in my entire life. Then they got all the recruitees together and marched us to the chow hall for morning chow. The rest of the day we set up our house and bunks. The rest of that week was spent running around getting x-rays, shots, peeing in a cup, doing papers, drawing blood and a few other things.

"Oh. Did I mention that the first day we didn't sleep? That Friday, we met our real DI and moved into our house. [That would have been August 29.] If you want to know what Friday was like, watch Full Metal Jacket.

"The past two weeks went by real fast. One day we got our rifles and learned how to march with them. We had a lot of classes; some about first aid, history, the Corp values, and a whole lot of other subjects. We have also had a few martial arts classes.

"It is Monday, the 15th, I think and Saturday will be initial drill. That is pretty much the end of Phase I.

"Next week is swim week. And that Friday we will be going up north to Camp Pendleton for a few weeks. I am really excited for our time at Camp Pendleton.

"So, I want you all to know that I love you and miss everyone a lot. And I want to thank everyone for the letters. They help a whole lot.

"Love, Your Future Marine,
"Jacob Turley

"PS Mom, I forgot to cancel my gym membership. If you could try and get it cancelled or have Dad put money in my bank account [:)] that would be much appreciated.

"PSS Give Theo lots of love for me."



Again... lots of love for Theo. Only. Well, not really. I can tell that he misses all of us. Maybe more accurately, he misses the comforts of home, but I think that means he misses us. And I also think that he sounds really good. I am amazed that he writes longer letters than I thought he would; something for which I am truly grateful.

To everyone who has written letters to Jacob, thank you. And please continue to do so. He seems to really like getting mail.