Letters from Paris Island

[NJROTC-CC]

DS is a junior in H.S. and very active in NJROTC. Although DS plans to go to college, he has many friends who have graduated before him and who have enlisted. All have interesting stories. Currently, he has about 5 friends at Paris Island in basic at the same time (in difference platoons.) One of them has written two letters to DS. DW snuck in his room and got the letters and we read them. A lot of funny stuff. Most of the kids from our high school who I have spoken to say the hardest thing about Marine basic training is trying not to laugh at some of things the DI's do and say and then get PT'd for laughing.

The kids from our high school NJROTC all thrive in basic training. A couple have graduated #1 in their classes in the different services. But the description of the caliber of some of the other Marine recruits is somewhat disappointing to hear. Some not in physical shape, others not very bright. Here is a quote "I thought up in Florida I'd seen what actual autism is, but my god, some of the recruits in my platoon didn't even know how to lace or tie their shoes." Oh well, the Marine Corps will shape them up, I am sure of it.

 

[A1Janitor]

DW snuck in his room and got the letters and we read them. Wow.

I thought up in Florida I'd seen what actual autism is ... Wow.

 

[MidCakePa]

Here is a quote "I thought up in Florida I'd seen what actual autism is, but my god, some of the recruits in my platoon didn't even know how to lace or tie their shoes."

I read once that when the U.S. entered WWII and started in-processing new soldiers and sailors, a good portion — 25% comes to mind — put on shoes for the first time in their life. (Remember, these young men had grown up during the Great Depression.) They eventually became known as the Greatest Generation, which I’m sure entailed, in no small part, the mastery of tying shoes.

 

[USMCGrunt]

the Marine Corps will shape them up, I am sure of it.

NO doubt about that.

I can relate to the difficulty on holding back laughter.

As tough as OCS was, when you were not personally getting smoked, some of the comments and scenarios were absolutely hilarious. And God forbid you find yourself in a "competition" between two different Sergeant Instructors trying to one-up the other.

 

[Moonmonkey1000]

I don't think either of you know what autism is.

 

[Skipper07]

I'm shocked that you read letters from your son's friends addressed to your son... letters that were written at potentially the most vulnerable state of these young men's careers. They were clearly meant for your son alone.

Also, I could tell some pretty embarrassing stories about my classmates from PS and still promise you that they are very competent.

 

[NJROTC-CC]

I'm shocked that you read letters from your son's friends addressed to your son... letters that were written at potentially the most vulnerable state of these young men's careers. They were clearly meant for your son alone.

"Shocked" Really? Reminds me of Casablanca. "I am 'shocked' to find out that gambling is going on here in this estabishment"

I personally, would not have even thought to read the letters, but DW (the devious one) read them and was shocked by the poor grammar, punctuation, etc. and she got me curious. Heck, reading letters from boot camp is not as bad as reading someone's diary. So, I read them and they were not nearly as bad grammatically as she said they were. It was great to see the comradeship between all the young men from DS's high school and great to see that they stay in touch with each other and are following each others careers. I told DW that putting grammar aside, the fact that a young man in boot camp would take the time to write a newsy letter is great to see. Kinda "old school."

 

[NJROTC-CC]

I read once that when the U.S. entered WWII and started in-processing new soldiers and sailors, a good portion — 25% comes to mind — put on shoes for the first time in their life. (Remember, these young men had grown up during the Great Depression.) They eventually became known as the Greatest Generation, which I’m sure entailed, in no small part, the mastery of tying shoes.

I think I read things like that in "Citizen Soldier" by Stephen Ambrose. A great read.

My father told me that when he went through Great Lakes in WWII they were processing so many recruits that if you had a cavity or anything wrong with a tooth, then would just pull the tooth because they didn't have the time to do any kind of extended dental work. He said some of the recruits came from back in the hills and obviously had never seen a dentist before in their life. He said some ended up with very few teeth left.

 

[NavyHoops]

Plebe Summer, as miserable as it was at times, was dang funny. As a detailer it was even funnier. The military in general has a special way of making you laugh... I think the absurdity of so many things and in some scenarios it’s a laugh or you cry situation.

And yes, I have seen some Marines that you wonder how they even get dressed each day. I had Marines that thought because they had checks in their checkbook that means they have money in their account. Yes, this happened in each unit I was in and on multiple occasions. Phone calls from the local high school for LCpl Smith to come pick up his wife at school because she was sick... a weekly occurrence (and no his wife was not a teacher there). Like everywhere in this world, there are top performing Marines, a lot in the middle and some at the bottom. The ones at the bottom are unfortunately where you spend a lot of time. All of us who have served could go on for hours for the strange, odd and at times baffling things we encountered with our Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Coast Guardsmen and Airmen. Also remember not everyone has had exposure to the military prior to enlisting. It’s great your DS has JROTC experience but that isn’t the norm. That didn’t exist where I grew up or even in a 3-4 hour radius of where I lived. The amount of people in our country that don’t even know someone on Active Duty or even a vet is pretty large. In many cases the only exposure those enlisting have exposure to are their recruiter.

 

[OldRetSWO]

And God forbid you find yourself in a "competition" between two different Sergeant Instructors trying to one-up the other.

The USNA version of that used to be two upperclass that were feuding and using their plebes to deliver insults, warnings, etc. Then the plebe would carry back the reply after being tortured a bit.

For me the worst was between our First Class and Second Class. The Firsties had changed companies over the summer so the two classes didn't know each other very well and they did not "agree" about which class had primary responsibility for training plebes. It was not good for the plebes who were stuck between these warring factions. My later deployment to Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War reminded me a lot of that time.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

I read once that when the U.S. entered WWII and started in-processing new soldiers and sailors, a good portion — 25% comes to mind — put on shoes for the first time in their life. (Remember, these young men had grown up during the Great Depression.) They eventually became known as the Greatest Generation, which I’m sure entailed, in no small part, the mastery of tying shoes.

I just finished reading "The River Boys" about some B-29 crews who spent several years in North Korean POW camps.
One of the B-29 gunners talks about getting to basic training and basking in the luxury of sleeping in until 0600, having new clothes, and great food.

 

[Day-Tripper]

DS is a junior in H.S. and very active in NJROTC. Although DS plans to go to college, he has many friends who have graduated before him and who have enlisted. All have interesting stories. Currently, he has about 5 friends at Paris Island in basic at the same time (in difference platoons.) One of them has written two letters to DS. DW snuck in his room and got the letters and we read them. A lot of funny stuff. Most of the kids from our high school who I have spoken to say the hardest thing about Marine basic training is trying not to laugh at some of things the DI's do and say and then get PT'd for laughing.

The kids from our high school NJROTC all thrive in basic training. A couple have graduated #1 in their classes in the different services. But the description of the caliber of some of the other Marine recruits is somewhat disappointing to hear. Some not in physical shape, others not very bright. Here is a quote "I thought up in Florida I'd seen what actual autism is, but my god, some of the recruits in my platoon didn't even know how to lace or tie their shoes." Oh well, the Marine Corps will shape them up, I am sure of it.

Graduating from boot camp is like graduating from law school. Last in each class is still called "Marine" or "lawyer". Ranking doesn't make much difference, though in my time squad leaders (four per platoon) got automatic promotions to PFC (E-2) and a free set of dress blue uniforms.

"Most of the kids from our high school who I have spoken to say the hardest thing about Marine basic training is trying not to laugh at some of things the DI's do and say and then get PT'd for laughing."

Absolutely accurate. Timeless. I don't know how the Drill Instructors themselves don't crack up with laughter. I could go on and on.

 

[NJROTC-CC]

Graduating from boot camp is like graduating from law school. Last in each class is still called "Marine" or "lawyer". Ranking doesn't make much difference, though in my time squad leaders (four per platoon) got automatic promotions to PFC (E-2) and a free set of dress blue uniforms.

"Most of the kids from our high school who I have spoken to say the hardest thing about Marine basic training is trying not to laugh at some of things the DI's do and say and then get PT'd for laughing."

Absolutely accurate. Timeless. I don't know how the Drill Instructors themselves don't crack up with laughter. I could go on and on.

A brief tidbit from one of the letters. The platoon was in formation. A trainee farted loudly. Everyone heard it. The DI immediately ordered the platoon to inhale hard and hold their breath. Shortly after following his order, the entire platoon burst out laughing, as did the DI who gave the order and another DI who was present and observed the whole thing. I don’t know what happened next, probably everyone got PT’d or had to run a couple miles.

 

[A1Janitor]

A brief tidbit from one of the letters. The platoon was in formation. A trainee farted loudly. Everyone heard it. The DI immediately ordered the platoon to inhale hard and hold their breath. Shortly after following his order, the entire platoon burst out laughing, as did the DI who gave the order and another DI who was present and observed the whole thing. I don’t know what happened next, probably everyone got PT’d or had to run a couple miles.

I think a similar incident happened with my son. A plebe farted. My son made a joke. They all laughed. And he got dropped.