Saturday, September 17, 2016
PVT Carr Letter #4
9/6/16
Hi Dan & Kristy,
I've heard great things about you guys as well. Prows very proud of her family, she talks a lot about you guys! Especially her little brother Zeke, he's adorable! I saw the picture of you and Prows from when she was little, you guys are twins.
Anyway, a little bit about me… hmm. Well I'm 20 years old from Seaside Park, NJ. If you've ever seen the (stupid) show Jersey Shore, that's the town I live in. I've met all of the cast, glad that show is over! It gives Jersey such a bad name. I am a junior in college at West Virginia University, go Mountaineers! I am studying psychology and social work. I want to be a substance abuse counselor. My family owns halfway houses in Florida, so once I get certified I plan to move there, if my mom lets me (ha ha), and get a job there. I have hey twin brother who looks nothing like me, and we have completely opposite personalities, but it's pretty cool having him around. I never had a first day of school alone, up until college of course. But even though we fight, I have realized that I couldn't survive without my siblings. Even though I haven't known her for long, I feel like Toni is a sister to me. Let me tell you how we met:
So I'm sitting at the airport in Missouri at the USO with other soldiers, waiting for the bus to Fort Leonard Wood. I was sitting at a table of people who I didn't know, when Toni walked right up to us and just simply said, "Hi I'm Toni!" Just as easy as that. She was so happy, she stood out because everyone was nervous and she was walking around like a ball of sunshine. We ended up being bunk buddies at reception. I instantly felt comfortable talking to her, so I opened up to her and knew I could trust her. So now here we are, planning trips to visit each other after training. So thanks for letting her come here because I am so glad I got to meet her!
I'm not really sure what else to say about myself. I'm pretty boring (ha ha). After training I want to graduate college and then hopefully attend Air Assault school. That's a long way from now. I wish I had more to tell you guys about myself but I can't think of much.
Let me know about yourselves! Thanks again for writing :). Always brightens my day. I got your card Kristy, I'm glad to be initiated into the "crazy family" by receiving socks. Grandma Sandy has some good ideas. :)
-PVT Carr
Hi Dan & Kristy,
I've heard great things about you guys as well. Prows very proud of her family, she talks a lot about you guys! Especially her little brother Zeke, he's adorable! I saw the picture of you and Prows from when she was little, you guys are twins.
Anyway, a little bit about me… hmm. Well I'm 20 years old from Seaside Park, NJ. If you've ever seen the (stupid) show Jersey Shore, that's the town I live in. I've met all of the cast, glad that show is over! It gives Jersey such a bad name. I am a junior in college at West Virginia University, go Mountaineers! I am studying psychology and social work. I want to be a substance abuse counselor. My family owns halfway houses in Florida, so once I get certified I plan to move there, if my mom lets me (ha ha), and get a job there. I have hey twin brother who looks nothing like me, and we have completely opposite personalities, but it's pretty cool having him around. I never had a first day of school alone, up until college of course. But even though we fight, I have realized that I couldn't survive without my siblings. Even though I haven't known her for long, I feel like Toni is a sister to me. Let me tell you how we met:
So I'm sitting at the airport in Missouri at the USO with other soldiers, waiting for the bus to Fort Leonard Wood. I was sitting at a table of people who I didn't know, when Toni walked right up to us and just simply said, "Hi I'm Toni!" Just as easy as that. She was so happy, she stood out because everyone was nervous and she was walking around like a ball of sunshine. We ended up being bunk buddies at reception. I instantly felt comfortable talking to her, so I opened up to her and knew I could trust her. So now here we are, planning trips to visit each other after training. So thanks for letting her come here because I am so glad I got to meet her!
I'm not really sure what else to say about myself. I'm pretty boring (ha ha). After training I want to graduate college and then hopefully attend Air Assault school. That's a long way from now. I wish I had more to tell you guys about myself but I can't think of much.
Let me know about yourselves! Thanks again for writing :). Always brightens my day. I got your card Kristy, I'm glad to be initiated into the "crazy family" by receiving socks. Grandma Sandy has some good ideas. :)
-PVT Carr
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Zac Basic Training Letter 9/6 through 9/8
9/6 11:09
I don't know if I showed you all of the BCT hype video but part of it was an electronic shooting range. That's where I am now. It's pretty cool. They took actual M4's and built them to be usable. They also hook it up to compressed air and a speaker to give kick and sound. Kind of cool. I've been qualifying really well on all the drills we do. I'm having to learn how to shoot with my glasses on. We are supposed to be going to the PX today. I've got quite a bit of stuff to get. This week is definitely moseying on by. Time is getting quite fast for me.
We had a company run this morning. 3 miles. The last half we were calling out cadence which made it 1000x better. I was hating life doing it. Sometimes my mind and body kind of go numb, I'm pretty sure I'm embracing the suck. But I made it through I'm feeling pretty good, other than my knee, that crap is on fire. The pain is spreading down the side of my shins, at my thighs and now in my hips and groin. Sometimes like today after the run I have to pick up my knee and move it. Brutal stuff.
9/8 15:43
I apologize that I haven't written much this week. It's been kind of a busy week. It's been long but has gone by fast. I've been very tired at night so I've just gone to bed. I received another 15 letters (total of 30) on Tuesday. It's always awesome getting letters. I've got letters from Linda, Cathy, Gma & Gpa Prows, Toni, y'all, Mike and Vallen. I was surprised to get letters from a few of these people. Vallen's letter, per usual, had me dying of laughter, absolutely hysterical! I got all these pictures! I was thrilled to get them, some of them hanging in my locker. When the platoon saw I had pictures of the platoon doing stuff, everyone wanted to see. If you would (mom) will you send more pictures of the platoon? I think people in the platoon would really enjoy that. That action shot of me was pretty cool, but I am not digging the receding hair line. :( I DON'T LOOK GOOD BALD!
I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up a good bit when I read Zeke's letter. I hope Bubby calms down with this poor behavior. He was so excited to have Toni & I out of the house but he didn't realize how much attention he'd get from y'all. I laughed at his goal of not too much time in suspension. What a nerd. It must be interesting growing up through his age with a phone that can get any information and send out whatever you want. I know Zeke struggles with that.
We've been doing a bunch of range time this week. Honestly really boring. Once you qualify at the certain range you just sit around. I qual'ed yesterday so today I've been sitting around and studying for the red phase test tomorrow. Eating chow outside of the DFAC sucks hard-core, no salad bar. I've never eaten so much cottage cheese, peanut butter and PB&J's. I continue to lose weight. I'm probably down 10 to 15 pounds. Getting stronger and stronger every day. We are going to have to keep up with our own PT during the day while we were at ranges because we just sit around.
My knees are starting to get a little bit better. But the pain transferred into shinsplints, ankle pain and now into my hips/groin. My right hip flexor feels like it's pulled tighter than a guitar string.
There seems to be no improvement in a good bit of privates. I'm literally about to snap a neck. Our platoon got destroyed today because of one person. What the heck. I am so tired of it. So tired. Our platoon has become a little cutthroat and have started giving roster numbers of people who suck to the drill sergeants. We all have our eyes on getting one kid removed. We have peer reviews and almost everyone is writing his name to be removed. All this kid does is complain, not sacrifice for the platoon, walk around criticizing you I'm not helping and always find some excuse to get out of things.
9/8 21:56
Positive note, I only have 11 weeks left. In 2 weeks I'll be in the single digits. Rock on. I can't believe Sunday is 9/11. 1/3 of the way through September. I wonder what they have planned for us on 9/11. Tomorrow will mark one month of me leaving ATL. Today I guess is one month since I've seen y'all.
Dad, who does this song, "I heard through a friend who, heard it from a friend who knew you were messing around." (not sure of the exact lyrics) I think it's like REO Speed Wagon or someone similar. Heard it today on the bus. It was a great moment.
Mom, rumor is that graduation is Nov was moved up a few days? DS hasn't said anything but please check the Facebook page to see if something was posted. I don't want plans to get messed up.
Love and miss you all dearly,
-Zac
P.S. Don't forget to send more pictures of the whole platoon!
P.S.S. Hopefully I'll get to call y'all in the next week, keep a lookout!
Love Y'all!
I don't know if I showed you all of the BCT hype video but part of it was an electronic shooting range. That's where I am now. It's pretty cool. They took actual M4's and built them to be usable. They also hook it up to compressed air and a speaker to give kick and sound. Kind of cool. I've been qualifying really well on all the drills we do. I'm having to learn how to shoot with my glasses on. We are supposed to be going to the PX today. I've got quite a bit of stuff to get. This week is definitely moseying on by. Time is getting quite fast for me.
We had a company run this morning. 3 miles. The last half we were calling out cadence which made it 1000x better. I was hating life doing it. Sometimes my mind and body kind of go numb, I'm pretty sure I'm embracing the suck. But I made it through I'm feeling pretty good, other than my knee, that crap is on fire. The pain is spreading down the side of my shins, at my thighs and now in my hips and groin. Sometimes like today after the run I have to pick up my knee and move it. Brutal stuff.
9/8 15:43
I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up a good bit when I read Zeke's letter. I hope Bubby calms down with this poor behavior. He was so excited to have Toni & I out of the house but he didn't realize how much attention he'd get from y'all. I laughed at his goal of not too much time in suspension. What a nerd. It must be interesting growing up through his age with a phone that can get any information and send out whatever you want. I know Zeke struggles with that.
We've been doing a bunch of range time this week. Honestly really boring. Once you qualify at the certain range you just sit around. I qual'ed yesterday so today I've been sitting around and studying for the red phase test tomorrow. Eating chow outside of the DFAC sucks hard-core, no salad bar. I've never eaten so much cottage cheese, peanut butter and PB&J's. I continue to lose weight. I'm probably down 10 to 15 pounds. Getting stronger and stronger every day. We are going to have to keep up with our own PT during the day while we were at ranges because we just sit around.
My knees are starting to get a little bit better. But the pain transferred into shinsplints, ankle pain and now into my hips/groin. My right hip flexor feels like it's pulled tighter than a guitar string.
There seems to be no improvement in a good bit of privates. I'm literally about to snap a neck. Our platoon got destroyed today because of one person. What the heck. I am so tired of it. So tired. Our platoon has become a little cutthroat and have started giving roster numbers of people who suck to the drill sergeants. We all have our eyes on getting one kid removed. We have peer reviews and almost everyone is writing his name to be removed. All this kid does is complain, not sacrifice for the platoon, walk around criticizing you I'm not helping and always find some excuse to get out of things.
9/8 21:56
Positive note, I only have 11 weeks left. In 2 weeks I'll be in the single digits. Rock on. I can't believe Sunday is 9/11. 1/3 of the way through September. I wonder what they have planned for us on 9/11. Tomorrow will mark one month of me leaving ATL. Today I guess is one month since I've seen y'all.
Dad, who does this song, "I heard through a friend who, heard it from a friend who knew you were messing around." (not sure of the exact lyrics) I think it's like REO Speed Wagon or someone similar. Heard it today on the bus. It was a great moment.
Mom, rumor is that graduation is Nov was moved up a few days? DS hasn't said anything but please check the Facebook page to see if something was posted. I don't want plans to get messed up.
Love and miss you all dearly,
-Zac
P.S. Don't forget to send more pictures of the whole platoon!
P.S.S. Hopefully I'll get to call y'all in the next week, keep a lookout!
Love Y'all!
8-31 through 9-5 Zac Basic Training Letter
8-31 23:50I just don't understand. The other 2 dudes on fireguard are supposed to be roamors but instead they are sitting/laying on an empty bunk. They say, "yeah but we aren't asleep" but that's not the point. If the DS walks in he's going to think they're asleep which gets our whole platoon and possibly company messed up. But no they don't listen when I asked them to get up. They're tired! It's just a freaking hour! SUCK IT UP! Plus you're a guard. Look like one and act like one. I'm tired of this all about me mind set so many of these privates have.
9-1 05:14
As I am waiting to go to WAT my butt head DS apparently didn't know that I am being forced to go. So he comes in telling me I'm not going to make it and stuff. "come get the paperwork started, you ain't going to make it." But he's wrong. This DS is literally the worst person I've ever met. Other DS in the company inspire but not him. I know I shouldn't take it personally, but it still makes me mad. The thing is I'm not like these other privates or DS. I'm not here just to kill. What I don't understand is why I get bad flack for being made to go to sick call twice.
16:28
WAT went well. It stems from my bad running form. My kneecaps are bruised. I got to stretch and practice my running form. Proper form should speed up my runtime.
I've been working on my running form. It really feels awkward, but it feels better – a lot better. I immediately feel their pain in my knees decline.
9-2 11:06
We got to sleep in a little bit this morning. 30 minutes! Got to get up at 5 instead of 04:30. I got 15 letters yesterday! It was so amazing hearing from y'all! I got one from aunt Cathy, one from grandma and grandpa, one from Toni, one from Zeke and the rest from you 2. It made me so happy. Morale is way back high. It was good to read what Toni had to say. We are having very similar experiences, although I think her basic is harder than mine. I can't believe that she is about to start blue phase and graduate BCT in 26 days. I still have 53 days till my family day. If you want to extend the invitation to family, they should come to my ceremonies on November 25/26. Definitely the 25th of November. I want pictures from Toni's graduation! I still want just pictures to put up in my locker.The last letter I read was the one about Zeke taking the car for a joyride. What the hell!?!? It made me laugh so hard. LOL! I don't know where he gets these bright ideas but, wow. I'm concerned that he drove down to Holly Springs! That's crazy! Can he drive decently? What did his friends parents say? Why did he think that was OK? What was his punishment? Are y'all hiding the keys now?
I'm so happy that Zeke is enjoying high school. I hope it's a changing point in his life. I can't wait to see the growth he's undergone. Keep having him send me letters.
I'm so excited to hear about y'all and your weight-loss journey. Y'all are going to look so good when I get back. I love that y'all are motivated. Dad, and I haven't had ice cream in over a month to. We will have to get some DQ on family day.
I'm glad the puppies are doing well. I miss their dumb mugs. It made me laugh about Benny and Sam having a hard time on the walk, but Smalls is just bouncing along.
I enjoy reading both y'alls letters. The fact is both y'alls letters are mostly boring. As are mine, but they make me feel like I'm home. Y'all need to be prepared to get your butts whooped in Phase 10 and Skip Bo.
15:11
This morning we did our first part of land nav for today. My group came in 2nd and got 3 out of 3 points. Didn't even run; slow is smooth, smooth is fast. We are about to head back to the land nav site so we can do our night session. It has been really fun. I love training like this. It's weird to think that I'm going through the gas chamber in less than 24 hours. Going to be fun!
09-04 09:30 I couldn't go to church today. I tried but you need more than one person. I'll try again next week. This week went by so fast, days are really actually blending together. Yesterday we went through the gas chamber. I thought it was fun. Kind of sucked though. The gas is brutal but it stopped after 30 seconds after I got out.
09-05 21:50
Another day down. We did a 4 mile ruck today, wasn't bad at all. Honestly could have done 12 miles at that weight. The herd thinning is real now, it's getting crazy. I like it. I was kind of bummed that it's a holiday weekend so our mail has been delayed. I don't have much time. I'll start another letter tomorrow!
Love and miss y'all more and more every day
-Zac
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Toni Basic Training Letter Sept 5
Dear Dad,Guess who shot expert?! ME! 38/40 - tied for second highest female in the company! I don't have a ton of time to write right now but I wanted to just send you a note, I LOVE YOU and I'm so proud of you!
XXOO
-Toni
Here's a picture of FAT me :'(
I'm skinnier now.
Dear Mom,
I miss your letters! How is P90 going? I don't have a ton of time to write but things are pretty boring right now. We do machine guns and grenades tomorrow.
Hope y'all are doing well.
XOXO
-Toni
1st Letter from PVT Williams
30 Aug 2016
Dear Mr. Prows,
Thank you so much for your letters. I actually really enjoy them. I was a little confused when I first received them. Your letters lighten up my mood!
Toni is AWESOME! You raised an amazing young lady. I mean yes she does some crazy stuff like take TP from the cadre bathroom. But other than that, she is very motivated. She is always in a great mood, always making me laugh. She does talk about her dogs a lot. She showed me a picture! So cute!
We are now in our last week of white phase!! And yes we finished land nav. We were in the same group. We kind of got lost, but managed to get out. We are now doing BRM. Toni is an awesome shooter. Unlike me. I've never shot any type of gun before. I'm still getting used to it.
Pennsylvania is a great state! I love it there. The weather is a little bit cooler than it is here. I live in Bucks County. Is the country part of PA. I love the scenery! I've never been to Georgia. I've only been down south to Alabama. That's about it. I plan on going because my friend from home is going to Kennesaw State. Well once again thank you so much for your letters! Toni is awesome and a great friend!
Take care,
- Zoe
Dear Mr. Prows,
Thank you so much for your letters. I actually really enjoy them. I was a little confused when I first received them. Your letters lighten up my mood!
Toni is AWESOME! You raised an amazing young lady. I mean yes she does some crazy stuff like take TP from the cadre bathroom. But other than that, she is very motivated. She is always in a great mood, always making me laugh. She does talk about her dogs a lot. She showed me a picture! So cute!
We are now in our last week of white phase!! And yes we finished land nav. We were in the same group. We kind of got lost, but managed to get out. We are now doing BRM. Toni is an awesome shooter. Unlike me. I've never shot any type of gun before. I'm still getting used to it.
Pennsylvania is a great state! I love it there. The weather is a little bit cooler than it is here. I live in Bucks County. Is the country part of PA. I love the scenery! I've never been to Georgia. I've only been down south to Alabama. That's about it. I plan on going because my friend from home is going to Kennesaw State. Well once again thank you so much for your letters! Toni is awesome and a great friend!
Take care,
- Zoe
PVT Carr Letter #3
8/25/16
Hi Prows Dad!
I really appreciate the letter. Everyone cheers for me when they call my name for mail, it's actually pretty funny. It sort of turned into the joke of the platoon!
Anyway, I knew Prows had some experience but never knew she was a world champ!!! I can't say I know too many of those (ha ha). She so modest though, if I was her I would be bragging left and right about that! But that's just me.
Paratrooper and Chinese counterintelligence both sounds super cool! They didn't offer those cool types of MOS's is at MEPS station. (ha ha) So I'm stuck being an 80 M (truck driver) but a goal of mine is to attend airborne school in the future.
We are officially in white phase with about 4 weeks left to go. We qualify with our M4's next week and then it's almost time to graduate. And looking forward to meeting all of your great family. I received 4 letters from you guys, it's truly brightened my day, so thank you for that! Prows talks attend about you guys. She loves and misses you also very much!
Thanks again :]
-PVT Carr
Monday, September 12, 2016
8-29 through 8-31 Zac Basic Training Letter
8-29 13:36
So it's not pinkeye. They aren't sure what it is but they gave me ointment for my eye. It's weird putting it in my eye. I'm really happy that they didn't put me on profile. I get to do Eagle Tower & Gas Chamber. Next week technically starts white phase but they say we will still be in Red phase. People I've talked to say that is normal, they are pushing people through because they are so full.
8-29 20:51
I have found ways to escape my platoon/Basic for a second. Every meal I am weapons relief. We leave our M4A1's grounded in our platoon area, so they always need to be guarded. I get to go into chow first, eat in like 3-5 min and then run to the bay and relieve the guards. At that point I get to just hang out for 20-30 minutes. Plus the DS likes to smoke us after meals, so I miss that. It's little things like those moments that help the day. Just a little escape. I've got to go to sleep because is Eagle Tower tomorrow! Love y'all.
8-30 21:08
Eagle Tower was really fun! There were two parts. One section, you have to do a series of rope obstacles. One is having to walk across a rope while holding another. The next is commando crawling down a rope. You lay flat on it put dominant foot over it and let the other leg dangle as a counterweight. The third is like the first one but with another rope to hold onto like a bridge. Then you climb down a cargo net from there you get your harness and climb 40 feet and then repelled down. Repelling semi terrified me but I overcame and did it. Other than that we didn't do much except eat chow and a little class time. We didn't get smoked a whole lot today so that's improvement. Next Friday is the red phase test, I'm starting to really study now. What's awesome is that they'll start kicking people out and people will be recycled because of failing the test. Tomorrow we will have a group run in the morning and then first aid all day. Thursday we go to the mine fields. Friday we have land navigation qualification and Saturday is gas chamber. I am ready to get my sinuses cleared, it kills to do push-ups. LOL. My push-ups have definitely increased. I'm a little concerned about running, my knees are shot right now. Not sure what's going on with them. I have to get my knees warmed up or I can barely walk on them. I've been stretching and all but I don't know. Just going to run on until I can't actually walk. Other than that, my sinuses and swollen cheeks, I'm doing pretty well.
I got to get to sleep.
Love and miss y'all,
- Zac
8-31 04:23
Waking up is the worst part of the day. Always just so tired. One of those moments where you think if you quit you sleep in sooner. Supposedly all the quarters are leaving this Friday and should be home by next Friday. I've got the run this morning. My left ankle was swollen when I woke up and my knees are really super stiff and in pain. We'll see how this goes.
08:05
100 yards into the run we were going up a hill and something popped and cracked in my knee. Now I'm limping around. One DS is making me go to an athletic trainer. The other DS is being a horrible person. One DS told me to stand out a formation and the other is yelling at me to get back in. Then the other DS tells him he told me to step out. Then the other DS says, "you know what you are, you should come up to my office and start the paperwork." Calling me a quitter. I am not a quitter.
Not that I can do anything about it now but I don't think I like my MOS. I am not a killer. 98% of the platoon said they joined to stack bodies. That is just not me. I am literally enlisted for every other reason. Maybe I'm just supposed to be a musician.
09:03
I hope we start getting mail soon. And of next week we should get a phone call. My anxiety grows over people not getting up on time and doing the things they need to do while I'm busting my butt getting things done. It's really annoying.
12:57
Just got back from chow. It was pretty good today. Although the beef was so chewy my jaws are sore. I definitely miss mom's cooking, the chow just doesn't cut it. I'm excited to start eating good food again.
4th platoon has this drill sergeant and he just came back after a week off. He is on a total rampage. Messing up everyone he can. Dude's crazy.
Right now (13:43) we are on a latrine break from class. We've been in first aide class since 08:05. We are about to start the hands-on portion. I've always enjoyed first aid. Maybe I'll re-class to a medic. Who knows, maybe I'll start trying to get some medical licenses.
I try not to think about how much I miss y'all but it's hard, the best parts of my days are always with y'all. Now I'm just surrounded by a bunch of meatheads.
15:17
I was thinking as I stood at attention in the sun for 30 minutes. During these moments of sorrow, distress and pain, my next choices define me as a man. If I was to quit now, what would I quit in the future? If I quit now, could I call myself a man? If I quit now, could I look anyone in the eyes anymore? What lies would I tell myself to feel OK about my decision? Like dad said, I don't quit. I know part of the process of basic is to get broken down, and I am feeling that, I can't wait to rebuild into a stronger person both physically and mentally.
Hopefully things will keep moving fast. We only have like 55 days till basic graduation. I can't believe that tomorrow is September 1. All I got to do is make it through September and then it's out. Homestretch.
16:20
I never got to go to the athletic trainer. I won't go till I can't walk but I'm thinking I might have a tear in something. When it's warm it doesn't feel too bad but when it's cold, I have to limp. It's on both knees especially my left, inside both muscular and skeletal.
17:47
Right now, we just got done eating chow and are back in our bay doing dry firing drills and studying. I'm reviewing a couple facts, then writing y'all. I know for sure about 75% of what I need to know for the test on next Friday.
23:07
Sitting at the desk for a fire guard shift tonight. The wake up was one where I was thoroughly enjoying my sleep and thoroughly confused when I woke up. Waking up here is so hard, honestly one of the harder things. DS came around last night as we are doing running drills and told me I have to go to WAT tomorrow. No if's, and's or buts. I'm worried about my knees, I think I might've torn something. My plan was to push through but he's making me go. Upsets me because I wanted to go to land mines today. I hate that I've been to sick call three times already but two out of the three have been mandatory by my DS. Supposedly if your profile is too big you have to be recycled, because I'm National Guard they will ship me home. That would suck as I'm already here and I'd have to reship at a later date. But I'm trying to keep thoughts like that out. Got to stay positive.
A lot of these kids are getting scared of going active. They think that active duty is going to be like basic training. Active duty actually seems kind of fun. I'm sure they've got their good and bad days like everything else does.
In 35 minutes, it will be September 1. I should be getting paid. I hope that my money has been coming in to pay my bills.
If you are posting my letters on the blog, make sure you tell everybody I'm doing fine. Sidenote, I've seen the company commander around a lot taking photos so I think you might catch me in one or two of them.
23:29
I'm going to end this letter now. If I don't it won't ever get sent. Most likely I'll start another letter immediately after I close this one out.
Love and miss you also very much.
Can't wait to see y'all again.
Can't wait to hear y'all's voices.
-Zac
So it's not pinkeye. They aren't sure what it is but they gave me ointment for my eye. It's weird putting it in my eye. I'm really happy that they didn't put me on profile. I get to do Eagle Tower & Gas Chamber. Next week technically starts white phase but they say we will still be in Red phase. People I've talked to say that is normal, they are pushing people through because they are so full.8-29 20:51
I have found ways to escape my platoon/Basic for a second. Every meal I am weapons relief. We leave our M4A1's grounded in our platoon area, so they always need to be guarded. I get to go into chow first, eat in like 3-5 min and then run to the bay and relieve the guards. At that point I get to just hang out for 20-30 minutes. Plus the DS likes to smoke us after meals, so I miss that. It's little things like those moments that help the day. Just a little escape. I've got to go to sleep because is Eagle Tower tomorrow! Love y'all.
 |
| Not Zac but his group |
 |
| Also not Zac |
I got to get to sleep.Love and miss y'all,
- Zac
8-31 04:23
Waking up is the worst part of the day. Always just so tired. One of those moments where you think if you quit you sleep in sooner. Supposedly all the quarters are leaving this Friday and should be home by next Friday. I've got the run this morning. My left ankle was swollen when I woke up and my knees are really super stiff and in pain. We'll see how this goes.
08:05
100 yards into the run we were going up a hill and something popped and cracked in my knee. Now I'm limping around. One DS is making me go to an athletic trainer. The other DS is being a horrible person. One DS told me to stand out a formation and the other is yelling at me to get back in. Then the other DS tells him he told me to step out. Then the other DS says, "you know what you are, you should come up to my office and start the paperwork." Calling me a quitter. I am not a quitter.
Not that I can do anything about it now but I don't think I like my MOS. I am not a killer. 98% of the platoon said they joined to stack bodies. That is just not me. I am literally enlisted for every other reason. Maybe I'm just supposed to be a musician.
09:03
I hope we start getting mail soon. And of next week we should get a phone call. My anxiety grows over people not getting up on time and doing the things they need to do while I'm busting my butt getting things done. It's really annoying.
12:57
Just got back from chow. It was pretty good today. Although the beef was so chewy my jaws are sore. I definitely miss mom's cooking, the chow just doesn't cut it. I'm excited to start eating good food again.
4th platoon has this drill sergeant and he just came back after a week off. He is on a total rampage. Messing up everyone he can. Dude's crazy.
Right now (13:43) we are on a latrine break from class. We've been in first aide class since 08:05. We are about to start the hands-on portion. I've always enjoyed first aid. Maybe I'll re-class to a medic. Who knows, maybe I'll start trying to get some medical licenses.
I try not to think about how much I miss y'all but it's hard, the best parts of my days are always with y'all. Now I'm just surrounded by a bunch of meatheads.
15:17
I was thinking as I stood at attention in the sun for 30 minutes. During these moments of sorrow, distress and pain, my next choices define me as a man. If I was to quit now, what would I quit in the future? If I quit now, could I call myself a man? If I quit now, could I look anyone in the eyes anymore? What lies would I tell myself to feel OK about my decision? Like dad said, I don't quit. I know part of the process of basic is to get broken down, and I am feeling that, I can't wait to rebuild into a stronger person both physically and mentally.Hopefully things will keep moving fast. We only have like 55 days till basic graduation. I can't believe that tomorrow is September 1. All I got to do is make it through September and then it's out. Homestretch.
16:20
I never got to go to the athletic trainer. I won't go till I can't walk but I'm thinking I might have a tear in something. When it's warm it doesn't feel too bad but when it's cold, I have to limp. It's on both knees especially my left, inside both muscular and skeletal.
17:47
Right now, we just got done eating chow and are back in our bay doing dry firing drills and studying. I'm reviewing a couple facts, then writing y'all. I know for sure about 75% of what I need to know for the test on next Friday.
23:07
Sitting at the desk for a fire guard shift tonight. The wake up was one where I was thoroughly enjoying my sleep and thoroughly confused when I woke up. Waking up here is so hard, honestly one of the harder things. DS came around last night as we are doing running drills and told me I have to go to WAT tomorrow. No if's, and's or buts. I'm worried about my knees, I think I might've torn something. My plan was to push through but he's making me go. Upsets me because I wanted to go to land mines today. I hate that I've been to sick call three times already but two out of the three have been mandatory by my DS. Supposedly if your profile is too big you have to be recycled, because I'm National Guard they will ship me home. That would suck as I'm already here and I'd have to reship at a later date. But I'm trying to keep thoughts like that out. Got to stay positive.
A lot of these kids are getting scared of going active. They think that active duty is going to be like basic training. Active duty actually seems kind of fun. I'm sure they've got their good and bad days like everything else does.
In 35 minutes, it will be September 1. I should be getting paid. I hope that my money has been coming in to pay my bills.
If you are posting my letters on the blog, make sure you tell everybody I'm doing fine. Sidenote, I've seen the company commander around a lot taking photos so I think you might catch me in one or two of them.
23:29
I'm going to end this letter now. If I don't it won't ever get sent. Most likely I'll start another letter immediately after I close this one out.
Love and miss you also very much.
Can't wait to see y'all again.
Can't wait to hear y'all's voices.
-Zac
Toni Basic Training Letter August 28, 2016
*Toni sent a partially finished letter dated back on Aug 2nd - It ends abruptly.
Tuesday Aug 2nd
Yesterday was rough, we did it PRT inside because it was storming outside. We walked to chow in our PT's in the pouring rain and everyone was in a bad mood because the rain is freezing cold here! The drill sergeants were pissed because no one was sounding off so they made us do PRT after chow and I had to work out in a huge puddle! I was soaking wet. Everyone was really stressed yesterday. Mondays suck. New day! Tuesday has been good, oh yeah the drill sergeant made the girls "talk out our differences" because there has been a lot of drama. I don't like the female drama but it's getting better. Today is our second day of First Aid! The hardest part of first aid is not falling asleep. Today I fell asleep at least five times taking notes and watching demonstrations, LOL. Kids are sleeping standing up and you physically CANNOT stay awake! Yesterday we learned about tourniquets and we practiced caring and dragging our battle buddies and my BB made me laugh so hard I could barely drag her. Her name is Judy from California. She is so pretty and so funny. People use a lot of hand sanitizer here. You have to put it under your eyes to stay awake and it doesn't feel good. Today we are learning about gauze and bandages and stuff. It is so hot outside like 95
° and up + humidity and the OCP's don't make it any better. We have one more day of first aid and then we are doing the physical endurance obstacle course and then Friday we do the confidence tower!
° and up + humidity and the OCP's don't make it any better. We have one more day of first aid and then we are doing the physical endurance obstacle course and then Friday we do the confidence tower!
First platoon moved in formation so they had to stand at attention out.....
**I told you it ends abruptly, LOL!!
Aug 28
Dear Mom,
I heard the first 15 seconds of Footloose on transit yesterday and it totally made my day! Maybe it's your ringtone going off?! Mom… You are such a dork LOL you sent me blue and orange shorts socks that say "I'm awesome"! All we wear here is tall white Hanes socks and a green socks under our boots, LOL. I love them anyway and so did my friends! I showed everyone the pictures of us and they were like OMG is that your sister? Someone told me that I look like the mom… Everyone loves Prows's mom, she's the cutest and the sweetest!
I can't believe you lost 10 lbs!! That's so good mom! You're awesome. You motivate me every day. There are women here are your age and weight who look like they've only lost 10 pounds and they are at BCT not at home! Remember what drill sergeant Diaz says "F-U legs get stronger". Oh by the way, they issued all females prenatal which I've been taking every day but I don't think my hair is growing… But the baby is doing fine. Ha-ha!!
There is a girl here who just got moved to our company from Charlie company as a hold over New Start Over (NSO). That's basically when you have to wait for a new cycle to start and restart basic with someone else because you did something wrong. Anyway she got NSO'd for having sex with another private in the woods during FTX! (Field training exercise - it's like camping) AND GET THIS...HER NAME IS AEREOLA. NO JOKE! LIKE THE NIPPLE!! I think it's pretty funny. There's always a herd of NSO's at the end of the cycle on crutches and stuff, some have duct tape shoes and no laces because they are on suicide watch. One kid here is on homicide watch at the crazy house because he said he was going to shoot a sergeant at the range. Pretty freaky, huh? Weirdo. But the sergeant name is M..... and she is the worst. She's not even a DS. She's got a mullet and a super high-pitched voice and it gets better. She has a twitch where she smiles really big at random times like every 10 seconds and when she yells, she FOAMS from the mouth. Like a rabid dog, she's crazy, ha ha.
Mom, try not to snack at all, we know snacks and I'm always hungry but you get used to it. IDK why I told you that.
Oh, something cool; we got fitted for her dress blues the other day, I look like Mary Poppins/Delta flight attendant. We are so close!
 |
| This was basically Zeke being pulled over when he stole our car. The officer thought he was 12 years old! |
Sorry my letters are so all over the place. I have to start in them and stop them at random times. – I CAN'T believe that Zeke frikin' did that! What a little TURD! That made my stomach hurt when I read that. :( he doesn't understand that he could've had his license banned and been arrested and even worse he could've died! WHAT THE HECK WAS HE THINKING?! He could've crashed and killed two other people with him. The last thing I want to come home to is my little brother dead or in jail. Makes me really upset, and it's not like he is bigger and matured, he's Zeke! I don't think y'all punished him at all. If I did that y'all would end my life. I would take his phone, no leaving house except for two hours of chores a day and cutting the grass by hand with nail clippers and maybe even no dinner ever again. I'm really upset with him. >:(
(also, don't tell him I said this but that's really BA that he even made it that far! I know it's really bad but dang I wouldn't have the guts to ever do that even with my license as an "adult"! This just confirms my theory that he has to be possessed at times or something LOL.)
**Just for reference, Zeke and his friend stole our car one night and went joy riding. He was stopped by the police and we had to get him. Thankfully this was all that happened. But HE DID get in big trouble!**
New topic, (if you can't tell I'm pretty bored) I love not having my phone, whenever I want to talk to someone I have 70 people with me 24/7 and I don't need music because we sing ALL the time. Oh, speaking of my phone… You said the weirdest pictures! You crack me up. You send me a picture of your car, ha ha. Not to sound bratty but you got to give me something better.
 |
| My car! I love it and so does she! |
**also for reference, she asked me to send pictures off her instagram wall and my car was one on there and I figured if she posted it then she liked it. So I sent it to her with 20+ other pictures. After this, I printed out another picture of my Jeep and sent it to her all by it's self as a joke, LOL!**
Caleb has still not written me back! Please call him and yell at him for me. I sent him a super long letter like three weeks ago! What a brat! >:] Aunt Linda wrote me and so did my friend Aimee at the Naval Academy! Funny how she found time to write me at the Naval Academy, when I only knew her for a month, and my best friends can't even send me a note! Bunch of butt heads. But I don't let anything bring me down ever, I think I've been upset here like twice and it didn't last very long.
Oh so you want to know my APFT scores? My first test I got a 205, 23 push-ups, 51 sit ups and 17:11 run (2 mile). On my second PT test which was like two days ago I got a 247. 33 push-ups, 60 sit ups and 16:11 2 mile run. I'm aiming for a 300 by my next test then I could get a PT badge. I need 42 push-ups, 7 pull-ups and a 15:35 2 mile run. I think I can get there for sure. BUT we don't do anything in white phase, it is so stinking boring we barely get to do PT cuz we are at the range all day, which I like, but after that we sit in the classroom and listen to our National Guard Drill Sergeant drove on about dumb stuff. I hope he leaves soon.
Last night two girls almost got into a fist fight over a shower, LOL!
I'll write more soon! :)
 |
| The picture she drew of us on the back of the envelope! |
P.S. Aunt Kiki and Uncle Alex sent me the cutest pictures and letters.
-Love Toni
8-26 through 8- 28 Basic Training letter from Zac
8-26 19:18
PVT Garza quit. Poor kid, the odds were already against him but the drill sergeants made it worse. I understand that he has to match the standard but they held him higher. This one kid today I had to read a letter he was riding in class. Some part of the letter had something about a pedophile list. Drill sergeant flipped out. The kid quit today. One of the biggest screwup's in our platoon quit today. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy about that. One kid that previously quit but then decided to train got called to the company commanders office today and found out they are pursuing 2 article 15's against him. I guess they are thinning the herd. Almost officially done with my first week so that's cool. I hope y'all have heard from Toni I really don't have a lot of time to write but I always find time to write. I like the contact even though I haven't gotten mail yet. I can't wait to start receiving mail. I think it will raise my morale. The disconnection I feel here sucks. Days are going by quick though and the weeks haven't been too bad on time.
21:50
I usually spend a good portion of my nights writing. I should probably get some more sleep but this is more important to me. I'm hoping my platoon meets the standard to move into the next phase because I legit would be so angry if I got recycled because of other people. My toe is doing well. Looks like it's healing well, feels a lot better taken out then being in. It's weird because the doc issued me 800 mg Motrin and I have to ask the drill sergeant for it when I need it. I don't need it but it's like reverting back to a child. A child that has to do 100's of push-ups a day.
As we get more freedom I feel as if a lot of people in the platoon are going to take that inch and in-turn take a mile instead.
My fingertips I've become so soft. Getting back into guitar is going to hurt. I miss being able to play. I can't wait to go record my music in the studio. Again I miss y'all's voices and company. I'll be writing this letter over the weekend because mail doesn't send on the weekend. Love you all lots.
8-27 21:17
Whoops! I messed up the return address by one number. I listed it as 3rd BN but it's supposed to be 1st BN. I hope you haven't sent too many letters to that address and I also hope they make their way to me. Another day down. This portion is going to be short. We get some extra sleep as wake up is at 6. Learned some land nav and had a generally good day.
Missing y'all more and more every day.
-Zac
8-28 12:27
Halfway through another day. We've been cleaning and studying. I woke up and thought I had pinkeye. My eye doesn't itch but it was really gooey. I guess we will find out tomorrow morning. I am actually so sick right now. I've got a brutal head cold, possible pinkeye and my right cheek is swollen. Hopefully the gas chamber fixes up this cold. Tuesday we have Eagle tower, Friday we have Land nav qualification and Saturday the gas chamber. Tomorrow would be the first PTFT but the whole possible pinkeye has a drill sergeant having me go to sick call. I really don't think it's pinkeye anymore. My eye has relaxed today. No longer red, it's not itchy either. Kind of sucks because I've been like quarantined. Oh well, tomorrow I'll go to sick call, they'll tell me I don't have it and I'll continue training. I'm thinking happy thoughts – I'll be non-pinkeye, continue training and graduate November 25. As much as I'm having a good time, I really miss home. Maybe it's because I've had a lot of downtime today. People are saying we have like 12 weeks and five days. Just a little over three months. Only eight weeks and five days till y'all can come down and see BCT graduation and hang with me for two days. Even if I got a five-minute phone call on Sundays basic would be better. I like Sundays because it's relaxed but I don't like them because I'd rather be doing something. Keeping my mind busy.
8-28 15:56
I'm thankful this week is going to be a busy one. Next week we start going to the rifle ranges and then eventually to the grenade range. White phase will be nice because the drill sergeant start to leave you alone a lot more. Right now we have to get shuttled around everywhere by drill sergeants.
I miss Bubby (Zeke) a lot. I hope he is doing well, and I hope I get a letter from him. That would be really nice. I want to read all about his high school and ROTC adventures. If the puppies could write I'd want to letter from them. Can't imagine it would be very interesting though. Probably something along of along the lines of "today I woke up, went to go potty but instead sat there to make mom mad. Then I ate breakfast, and went on a walk and then slept all day!" If Benny was the author it would probably be grammatically horrific and have backwards letters and stuff. I miss his adorable mug.
I'm actually super upset that I put the wrong return address on my letters. I don't think that USPS will catch the mistake either I really just want to get mail. I want to know what y'all have been up to. It feels so like I'm writing to no one and just sending it off to get lost.
Because of possible pinkeye, I wasn't allowed to go to any service today. I figured I'd go to get a change of scenery, some sleep an
d see if they do that picture thing Toni did. I'm also not allowed in the chow hall right now - I've been eating MRE's today. They've been really good and I got Reese's pieces in my lunch. It's nice because I get to chill in the formation bay with other weapon guards, eat and talk and not get smoked.
18:08
Got another MRE for dinner. Probably ate like 8000 calories from MRE's today. Got to eat another one in the morning because of sick call. I probably won't be able to go to the bathroom for a week, those MRE's are ridiculous. I'm really excited for eagle tower. Repelling seems really fun. Actually all the activities here are pretty fun and interesting except for classroom time. I won't be tired for the whole day but the moment I walk into that classroom, I'm ready to pass out. I've definitely learned how to sleep standing up. I think I've almost fallen straight on my face more than 20 times. One of these days I'll just eat it falling down because I fall asleep.
I've got a nickname here. It's kind of funny because most people don't know my actual name. My nickname is Bubbles, LOL. After the Trailer Park Boys character with the big glasses.
It's an interesting dynamic here. Literally 56 guys in one room. Just a metric ton of pent-up testosterone. Everyone is either getting along or about to fight.
Are STS (senior drill sergeant) is a really cool guy. He is hilarious. When he does commands he sounds like Major Payne. It's just about impossible not to laugh when he is around. Yesterday he took one of this kids crutches away from him and simply said "Godspeed." Basically everyone was in tears from laughing so hard. DS Brooks is our main DS. Opinions are split on whether people like him or not. I can't stand him he really just hates us. No encouragement or motivation from him. I understand he's a DS but I feel like there should be a moment where they motivate. DS Navarro is our secondary DS. I like him way more than Brooks. He actually will have question time for us or be encouraging to us. Plus he is quite funny which is nice. Whenever someone screws up he says, "not to worry 3rd, we will fix that" then we drop. It's become a joke in the platoon.
PVT Garza apparently didn't quit. He broke/injured his foot pretty bad and got a medical discharge. Poor kid. Truth is he most likely didn't have what it takes but he went out here and gave it a shot. Poor kid looks defeated and sad. I hope he gets his happy-go-lucky personality back.
Have y'all heard from Toni yet? I hope she is doing all right at Leonard Wood. When does she graduate basic? It's weird that she's only like 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 weeks ahead of me. Feels like she left so much earlier than me.
I'm going to try to make plans with the NG liaison so I can go home with y'all instead of busting back to ATL airport. I try to imagine what I'm going to be like but I can't conjure an image. I try to think and comprehend how I'll feel when I graduate. I guess because I really haven't been into long I really don't have much to be proud of. I'm sure that'll change when I get graduated from Infantry school. I'm excited to have that feeling. One thing that really frustrates me is that I'm doing the right thing but other people don't care and they do the wrong thing so I still get messed up. I think within the next two weeks people will finally get the idea about basic and start taking it seriously. That will relieve a lot of stress from my life. I am not sure if this is stress related or not but I definitely have a tremor in my hand now. Sometimes it gets pretty bad especially when I eat. Sometimes I have a hard time keeping food on my spoon. The other day I went to get Motrin from the DS and I could barely open the bottle because my hand was shaking so bad.
I've got to go to another formation. I'll continue soon.
20:40
Tonight at formation, people were talking and we got a warning. Most people shut up. Some didn't. We got smoked. Problem solved right? No, people still talking. We got smoked three times because people couldn't just shut up. It got a full Company drop. Somehow during this I busted up my knees. Both of my knees and my left ankle is swollen. My body, as is everyone's, is taking a beating. Hopefully this will and goes down in the morning. I didn't even notice. My bunk mate was like, "Prows do you know that your ankle is like super swollen?" My ankle doesn't hurt though. Maybe I'm just an old lady who gets swollen ankles. It really bothers me that people are so selfish that they hold theirselves above the group. One guy talks and gets the whole company smoked. I bet they don't even feel bad or understand.
On a brighter note, I made my bunk tonight the best I've made it so far. We kind of do things backwards. We get up and clean in the morning and make our beds in the night. Super backwards.
Miss y'all more and more every day.
-Zac
PVT Garza quit. Poor kid, the odds were already against him but the drill sergeants made it worse. I understand that he has to match the standard but they held him higher. This one kid today I had to read a letter he was riding in class. Some part of the letter had something about a pedophile list. Drill sergeant flipped out. The kid quit today. One of the biggest screwup's in our platoon quit today. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy about that. One kid that previously quit but then decided to train got called to the company commanders office today and found out they are pursuing 2 article 15's against him. I guess they are thinning the herd. Almost officially done with my first week so that's cool. I hope y'all have heard from Toni I really don't have a lot of time to write but I always find time to write. I like the contact even though I haven't gotten mail yet. I can't wait to start receiving mail. I think it will raise my morale. The disconnection I feel here sucks. Days are going by quick though and the weeks haven't been too bad on time.
21:50
I usually spend a good portion of my nights writing. I should probably get some more sleep but this is more important to me. I'm hoping my platoon meets the standard to move into the next phase because I legit would be so angry if I got recycled because of other people. My toe is doing well. Looks like it's healing well, feels a lot better taken out then being in. It's weird because the doc issued me 800 mg Motrin and I have to ask the drill sergeant for it when I need it. I don't need it but it's like reverting back to a child. A child that has to do 100's of push-ups a day.
As we get more freedom I feel as if a lot of people in the platoon are going to take that inch and in-turn take a mile instead.
My fingertips I've become so soft. Getting back into guitar is going to hurt. I miss being able to play. I can't wait to go record my music in the studio. Again I miss y'all's voices and company. I'll be writing this letter over the weekend because mail doesn't send on the weekend. Love you all lots.
8-27 21:17
Whoops! I messed up the return address by one number. I listed it as 3rd BN but it's supposed to be 1st BN. I hope you haven't sent too many letters to that address and I also hope they make their way to me. Another day down. This portion is going to be short. We get some extra sleep as wake up is at 6. Learned some land nav and had a generally good day.
Missing y'all more and more every day.
-Zac
8-28 12:27
 |
| Zac doing Land Navigation |
Halfway through another day. We've been cleaning and studying. I woke up and thought I had pinkeye. My eye doesn't itch but it was really gooey. I guess we will find out tomorrow morning. I am actually so sick right now. I've got a brutal head cold, possible pinkeye and my right cheek is swollen. Hopefully the gas chamber fixes up this cold. Tuesday we have Eagle tower, Friday we have Land nav qualification and Saturday the gas chamber. Tomorrow would be the first PTFT but the whole possible pinkeye has a drill sergeant having me go to sick call. I really don't think it's pinkeye anymore. My eye has relaxed today. No longer red, it's not itchy either. Kind of sucks because I've been like quarantined. Oh well, tomorrow I'll go to sick call, they'll tell me I don't have it and I'll continue training. I'm thinking happy thoughts – I'll be non-pinkeye, continue training and graduate November 25. As much as I'm having a good time, I really miss home. Maybe it's because I've had a lot of downtime today. People are saying we have like 12 weeks and five days. Just a little over three months. Only eight weeks and five days till y'all can come down and see BCT graduation and hang with me for two days. Even if I got a five-minute phone call on Sundays basic would be better. I like Sundays because it's relaxed but I don't like them because I'd rather be doing something. Keeping my mind busy.
8-28 15:56
I'm thankful this week is going to be a busy one. Next week we start going to the rifle ranges and then eventually to the grenade range. White phase will be nice because the drill sergeant start to leave you alone a lot more. Right now we have to get shuttled around everywhere by drill sergeants.
I miss Bubby (Zeke) a lot. I hope he is doing well, and I hope I get a letter from him. That would be really nice. I want to read all about his high school and ROTC adventures. If the puppies could write I'd want to letter from them. Can't imagine it would be very interesting though. Probably something along of along the lines of "today I woke up, went to go potty but instead sat there to make mom mad. Then I ate breakfast, and went on a walk and then slept all day!" If Benny was the author it would probably be grammatically horrific and have backwards letters and stuff. I miss his adorable mug.
I'm actually super upset that I put the wrong return address on my letters. I don't think that USPS will catch the mistake either I really just want to get mail. I want to know what y'all have been up to. It feels so like I'm writing to no one and just sending it off to get lost.
Because of possible pinkeye, I wasn't allowed to go to any service today. I figured I'd go to get a change of scenery, some sleep an
d see if they do that picture thing Toni did. I'm also not allowed in the chow hall right now - I've been eating MRE's today. They've been really good and I got Reese's pieces in my lunch. It's nice because I get to chill in the formation bay with other weapon guards, eat and talk and not get smoked.
18:08
Got another MRE for dinner. Probably ate like 8000 calories from MRE's today. Got to eat another one in the morning because of sick call. I probably won't be able to go to the bathroom for a week, those MRE's are ridiculous. I'm really excited for eagle tower. Repelling seems really fun. Actually all the activities here are pretty fun and interesting except for classroom time. I won't be tired for the whole day but the moment I walk into that classroom, I'm ready to pass out. I've definitely learned how to sleep standing up. I think I've almost fallen straight on my face more than 20 times. One of these days I'll just eat it falling down because I fall asleep.
I've got a nickname here. It's kind of funny because most people don't know my actual name. My nickname is Bubbles, LOL. After the Trailer Park Boys character with the big glasses.It's an interesting dynamic here. Literally 56 guys in one room. Just a metric ton of pent-up testosterone. Everyone is either getting along or about to fight.
Are STS (senior drill sergeant) is a really cool guy. He is hilarious. When he does commands he sounds like Major Payne. It's just about impossible not to laugh when he is around. Yesterday he took one of this kids crutches away from him and simply said "Godspeed." Basically everyone was in tears from laughing so hard. DS Brooks is our main DS. Opinions are split on whether people like him or not. I can't stand him he really just hates us. No encouragement or motivation from him. I understand he's a DS but I feel like there should be a moment where they motivate. DS Navarro is our secondary DS. I like him way more than Brooks. He actually will have question time for us or be encouraging to us. Plus he is quite funny which is nice. Whenever someone screws up he says, "not to worry 3rd, we will fix that" then we drop. It's become a joke in the platoon.
PVT Garza apparently didn't quit. He broke/injured his foot pretty bad and got a medical discharge. Poor kid. Truth is he most likely didn't have what it takes but he went out here and gave it a shot. Poor kid looks defeated and sad. I hope he gets his happy-go-lucky personality back.
Have y'all heard from Toni yet? I hope she is doing all right at Leonard Wood. When does she graduate basic? It's weird that she's only like 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 weeks ahead of me. Feels like she left so much earlier than me.
I'm going to try to make plans with the NG liaison so I can go home with y'all instead of busting back to ATL airport. I try to imagine what I'm going to be like but I can't conjure an image. I try to think and comprehend how I'll feel when I graduate. I guess because I really haven't been into long I really don't have much to be proud of. I'm sure that'll change when I get graduated from Infantry school. I'm excited to have that feeling. One thing that really frustrates me is that I'm doing the right thing but other people don't care and they do the wrong thing so I still get messed up. I think within the next two weeks people will finally get the idea about basic and start taking it seriously. That will relieve a lot of stress from my life. I am not sure if this is stress related or not but I definitely have a tremor in my hand now. Sometimes it gets pretty bad especially when I eat. Sometimes I have a hard time keeping food on my spoon. The other day I went to get Motrin from the DS and I could barely open the bottle because my hand was shaking so bad.
I've got to go to another formation. I'll continue soon.
20:40
Tonight at formation, people were talking and we got a warning. Most people shut up. Some didn't. We got smoked. Problem solved right? No, people still talking. We got smoked three times because people couldn't just shut up. It got a full Company drop. Somehow during this I busted up my knees. Both of my knees and my left ankle is swollen. My body, as is everyone's, is taking a beating. Hopefully this will and goes down in the morning. I didn't even notice. My bunk mate was like, "Prows do you know that your ankle is like super swollen?" My ankle doesn't hurt though. Maybe I'm just an old lady who gets swollen ankles. It really bothers me that people are so selfish that they hold theirselves above the group. One guy talks and gets the whole company smoked. I bet they don't even feel bad or understand.
On a brighter note, I made my bunk tonight the best I've made it so far. We kind of do things backwards. We get up and clean in the morning and make our beds in the night. Super backwards.
Miss y'all more and more every day.
-Zac
Our Second letter from PVT Carr
8-23-2016
Dear Prows Mom,
I loved your socks and card! It was such a surprise to me. I couldn't stop smiling! I got your package at the same time as grandma and grandpa Prows letter. Which also made made my day. Prows tells me all about you and your son Zeke. I saw his picture in his uniform, such a cutie!!! Prows talks about him mostly. She's very proud of him and all that he has overcome. She cried her eyes out every time you or Zeke write to her, it's really special! It must feel really good knowing that you have 3 brave children that are part of the 1% of the world, military life can be scary!! I don't know much about the boys but as for Toni, she is very strong and very positive. There is not a day that goes by where she isn't smiling and encouraging someone else, always spreading her positivity around. For example, whenever we get smoked by drill sergeants, all of us are angry and stomping around – Prows is always saying "come on guys, free PT is the best!" We can't help but to laugh even though we're angry at that moment. Again, thank you for a letter! I also received one from Aunt Cathy & Grandma Prows. You guys are very thoughtful and I am grateful.
It was nice to finally get some mail :)
-PVT Carr
Dear Prows Mom,
 |
| This is PVT Carr |
It was nice to finally get some mail :)
-PVT Carr
Aug 25 - Zac Basic Training Letter
8-25 14:19
I was stupid to ever think I would not get homesick. I'm not sure why but today I'm feeling it. I just really miss y'all's voices. I hope you are getting my letters. I'm super excited to get mail back. Tomorrow marks 13 weeks left. Doesn't seem too bad. Three months and one week until I fully graduated. 9 weeks till basic graduation. About two weeks until I can hopefully get my phone to call.
The weirdest thing about this place is how controlled everything he has. Shower drills, how to mount bunks at the same time. Our drill sergeants also give us impossible time limits. Five minutes to get 125 people through an 8 stall bathroom then when we don't make it, they get mad. I know it's part of the game but it's annoying. Something that bothers me is how the drill sergeants are full on bullies sometimes. I understand that they make fun to motivate but they pick on this kid PVT Garza. PVT Garza that is like 5 foot and really nice. The drill sergeants excessively pick on him trying to make him quit. They don't give him an equal opportunity for him to graduate. Maybe I'm soft but it bums me out. Every time I'm away it confirms that I'm a homebody. The drill sergeants would call me a wimp for that but, it's me.
We went on a mock road march this morning. Only 2 miles with 35 pounds. Kids were dropping out like crazy. Of course I didn't drop out. Got to embrace the suck. I am sitting in a sexual harassment course right now. Interesting class.
One thing that's good is that we are the worst platoon. First platoon is so bad they get smoked like 30 times a day. About 80% of them have got in documented trouble. One kid is getting kicked out. DS of the platoon is trying to get rid of the entire group. There's an anonymous inbox on the drill sergeants doors that you can bring up concerns. I really want to listen people who consistently are screwing us. I don't want to snitch but at the same time I don't owe them anything and they refuse to work with the team.
As I write my letters I almost expect responses to pop up on my paper. I do really miss y'all. I kind of need some words of encouragement. I keep having to remind myself that perks of doing this. Good insurance, better resume, physical and mental growth, that bonus I get, free college. This place still sucks though. I hope things start getting better as people get their stuff together.
I hope all these weeks go by so fast as this first week dead. I keep telling myself that this Friday will be 13 weeks left and next Friday will be 12 weeks and so on. It helps during the day to break it up by meals. I think I've lost some weight. I know I'm stronger. I hope I do well on the APF tea next week.
Has my pay come through? If not yet it may come in on the 1st.
8-25 21:01
Just another day down. Another day closer to home. Still just as tired of the other recruits BS. We've been here a week and people still can't even march in step. Can't stand still in formation or move with a purpose and all of these basic things that make the DS unhappy. Red phase is only two more weeks, people have to have their crap together by then. We are supposed to know a new creed by tomorrow morning but like only half of the platoon knows it so we are going to get smoked either way.
I am the Infantry
I am my countries strength at war
Her deterrent in peace
I am the heart of the fight
Wherever, whenever
I carry America's faith and honor against her enemies
I am the queen of battle
I am with my country expects me to be
The best train soldier in the world.
In the race for victory
I am Swift, determined, and courageous.
Armed with a fierce a will to win
Never will I betray my countries trust
Always will I fight on
Through the foe
To the objective
To triumph over all
If necessary I will fight to my death
By my stead fast courage I have won over 200 years of freedom
Are you not to weakness
To hunger
To cowardice
To fatigue
To superior odds
For I am mentally tough, physically strong and morally straight.
I forsake not my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty
I am relentless
I am always there
Now and forever
I am the Infantry
Follow me!
Definitely a cool creed.
I don't like my main DS all that much. He is just a total jerk but my other DS is a jerk but also is cool at times. We never see our senior DS because he is also the company STS. Each day we start getting a little more freedom. During white phase, the drill sergeants will let us do more things alone. Tonight we are going to actually get some sleep which will be nice. Going to need it with the smoking session because people won't know that creed.
Food here is honestly a little subpar. They serve fish a lot and every time they have fish I get it and I'm sitting there dry heaving as I'm eating. One kid threw up on his tray and they made him eat around the puke. If that happened to me, I would've flat out said no! That's like inhumane.
Only 3 ways I'll leave this place:
1. I die
2. get a medical discharge
3. graduate.
Preferably the last.
Love and miss y'all Mucho
-Zac
I was stupid to ever think I would not get homesick. I'm not sure why but today I'm feeling it. I just really miss y'all's voices. I hope you are getting my letters. I'm super excited to get mail back. Tomorrow marks 13 weeks left. Doesn't seem too bad. Three months and one week until I fully graduated. 9 weeks till basic graduation. About two weeks until I can hopefully get my phone to call.
The weirdest thing about this place is how controlled everything he has. Shower drills, how to mount bunks at the same time. Our drill sergeants also give us impossible time limits. Five minutes to get 125 people through an 8 stall bathroom then when we don't make it, they get mad. I know it's part of the game but it's annoying. Something that bothers me is how the drill sergeants are full on bullies sometimes. I understand that they make fun to motivate but they pick on this kid PVT Garza. PVT Garza that is like 5 foot and really nice. The drill sergeants excessively pick on him trying to make him quit. They don't give him an equal opportunity for him to graduate. Maybe I'm soft but it bums me out. Every time I'm away it confirms that I'm a homebody. The drill sergeants would call me a wimp for that but, it's me.
We went on a mock road march this morning. Only 2 miles with 35 pounds. Kids were dropping out like crazy. Of course I didn't drop out. Got to embrace the suck. I am sitting in a sexual harassment course right now. Interesting class.
One thing that's good is that we are the worst platoon. First platoon is so bad they get smoked like 30 times a day. About 80% of them have got in documented trouble. One kid is getting kicked out. DS of the platoon is trying to get rid of the entire group. There's an anonymous inbox on the drill sergeants doors that you can bring up concerns. I really want to listen people who consistently are screwing us. I don't want to snitch but at the same time I don't owe them anything and they refuse to work with the team.
As I write my letters I almost expect responses to pop up on my paper. I do really miss y'all. I kind of need some words of encouragement. I keep having to remind myself that perks of doing this. Good insurance, better resume, physical and mental growth, that bonus I get, free college. This place still sucks though. I hope things start getting better as people get their stuff together.
I hope all these weeks go by so fast as this first week dead. I keep telling myself that this Friday will be 13 weeks left and next Friday will be 12 weeks and so on. It helps during the day to break it up by meals. I think I've lost some weight. I know I'm stronger. I hope I do well on the APF tea next week.
Has my pay come through? If not yet it may come in on the 1st.
8-25 21:01
Just another day down. Another day closer to home. Still just as tired of the other recruits BS. We've been here a week and people still can't even march in step. Can't stand still in formation or move with a purpose and all of these basic things that make the DS unhappy. Red phase is only two more weeks, people have to have their crap together by then. We are supposed to know a new creed by tomorrow morning but like only half of the platoon knows it so we are going to get smoked either way.
I am the Infantry
I am my countries strength at war
Her deterrent in peace
I am the heart of the fight
Wherever, whenever
I carry America's faith and honor against her enemies
I am the queen of battle
I am with my country expects me to be
The best train soldier in the world.
In the race for victory
I am Swift, determined, and courageous.
Armed with a fierce a will to win
Never will I betray my countries trust
Always will I fight on
Through the foe
To the objective
To triumph over all
If necessary I will fight to my death
By my stead fast courage I have won over 200 years of freedom
Are you not to weakness
To hunger
To cowardice
To fatigue
To superior odds
For I am mentally tough, physically strong and morally straight.
I forsake not my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty
I am relentless
I am always there
Now and forever
I am the Infantry
Follow me!
Definitely a cool creed.
I don't like my main DS all that much. He is just a total jerk but my other DS is a jerk but also is cool at times. We never see our senior DS because he is also the company STS. Each day we start getting a little more freedom. During white phase, the drill sergeants will let us do more things alone. Tonight we are going to actually get some sleep which will be nice. Going to need it with the smoking session because people won't know that creed.
Food here is honestly a little subpar. They serve fish a lot and every time they have fish I get it and I'm sitting there dry heaving as I'm eating. One kid threw up on his tray and they made him eat around the puke. If that happened to me, I would've flat out said no! That's like inhumane.
Only 3 ways I'll leave this place:
1. I die
2. get a medical discharge
3. graduate.
Preferably the last.
Love and miss y'all Mucho
-Zac
Saturday, September 03, 2016
Zac Basic Training Letter Day 2 & 3 8-20, 21 2016
8-20 22:00
Day 2 of basic. Kind of sucks but it's not horrible. These 72 hours were a rumored to be God awful and give you PTSD. Honestly just a bunch of yelling and a little bit of running with your duffel bags and holding it above your head. After that it was briefs. We get smoked like every 2 hours. Kind of sucks but whatever, at least I'm here and training. People are having a really hard time following instructions. They say stand at attention and don't move. Apparently that means scratch your face so you can get us all dropped. No matter how much we have been dropped they still don't get it. This is going to be a challenge. I understand that almost all these bigger tasks they give us are designed to have us fail. Part of the process. Still haven't been singled out by a drill sergeant or even talked to by one with the exception of when I have a question. If this was just me or people similar to me, basic would be a breeze. It really is easy. The yelling doesn't bother me. The dropping and smoking session don't bother me either, they end and they only make me stronger. The hard part is going to be the mistakes of the other soldiers. As I am writing this a drill sergeant is in here ripping some people apart. I guess they will learn soon enough.
Well they couldn't figure out what they were doing so they got the whole platoon to have to just run into formation. Drill sergeant said of anyone in the company messes up tonight every platoon would be up and in formation every 30 minutes. Fully expecting not to sleep much tonight.
8-21 23:19
Surprisingly the rest of the night went off without a hitch. This marks the end of the first 72 hours. Honestly I'm really disappointed. Like I said this was way more hyped up. At least in my case. I mean there was a lot of push-ups. "Platoon! Half face! In cadence! Exercise! One! Two! Three! One! Two! Three! Stop arching your back! (insert some vulgar insults about either a private or the platoon)". I feel like I've already lost weight these last three days. I already feel muscle coming in. All the smoking here singled out some particular dorks who won't take this seriously. So we got dropped a lot. One bright side is that me and some other guys stepped up as leadership (unofficially).
Things are working a lot better working as a team. Whoa thunk. I'm tired of cleaning. Darn you dad for teaching me how to clean. But it's been a huge help.
Today was really good. Didn't get dropped too much which was nice. I finally got my army issued glasses. They are nice and comfortable but come with a price. "Huh Huh, can you see planets with those shades?" Good one drill sergeant, it's good to hear high school insults again. Like come on that was just low hanging fruit. Tomorrow marks the first day of training. We are doing the obstacle course. Now we finally get to the fun stuff. Two kids quit. Drill sergeants call them the quitters or the losers. But those aren't incorrect names. I don't know why they just don't finish training. They most likely won't leave for a couple of months.
Only 14 more weeks to graduation. They will flyby. Can't wait to see y'all in October!
Miss and love y'all
– Zac
P.S.- Send pictures of y'all and the puppies.
P.P.S.- Please highlight the edges of the envelopes with blue.
P.P.P.S.S.S. - I'm chaffing so bad as of today I think I might start bleeding from my thighs. I walk like I've been horseback riding. OUCH!
Hopefully I can call in 3 weeks.
Love y'all
Day 2 of basic. Kind of sucks but it's not horrible. These 72 hours were a rumored to be God awful and give you PTSD. Honestly just a bunch of yelling and a little bit of running with your duffel bags and holding it above your head. After that it was briefs. We get smoked like every 2 hours. Kind of sucks but whatever, at least I'm here and training. People are having a really hard time following instructions. They say stand at attention and don't move. Apparently that means scratch your face so you can get us all dropped. No matter how much we have been dropped they still don't get it. This is going to be a challenge. I understand that almost all these bigger tasks they give us are designed to have us fail. Part of the process. Still haven't been singled out by a drill sergeant or even talked to by one with the exception of when I have a question. If this was just me or people similar to me, basic would be a breeze. It really is easy. The yelling doesn't bother me. The dropping and smoking session don't bother me either, they end and they only make me stronger. The hard part is going to be the mistakes of the other soldiers. As I am writing this a drill sergeant is in here ripping some people apart. I guess they will learn soon enough.
Well they couldn't figure out what they were doing so they got the whole platoon to have to just run into formation. Drill sergeant said of anyone in the company messes up tonight every platoon would be up and in formation every 30 minutes. Fully expecting not to sleep much tonight.
8-21 23:19
 |
| Zac is on the far right #342 on his helmet |
Surprisingly the rest of the night went off without a hitch. This marks the end of the first 72 hours. Honestly I'm really disappointed. Like I said this was way more hyped up. At least in my case. I mean there was a lot of push-ups. "Platoon! Half face! In cadence! Exercise! One! Two! Three! One! Two! Three! Stop arching your back! (insert some vulgar insults about either a private or the platoon)". I feel like I've already lost weight these last three days. I already feel muscle coming in. All the smoking here singled out some particular dorks who won't take this seriously. So we got dropped a lot. One bright side is that me and some other guys stepped up as leadership (unofficially).
Things are working a lot better working as a team. Whoa thunk. I'm tired of cleaning. Darn you dad for teaching me how to clean. But it's been a huge help.
Today was really good. Didn't get dropped too much which was nice. I finally got my army issued glasses. They are nice and comfortable but come with a price. "Huh Huh, can you see planets with those shades?" Good one drill sergeant, it's good to hear high school insults again. Like come on that was just low hanging fruit. Tomorrow marks the first day of training. We are doing the obstacle course. Now we finally get to the fun stuff. Two kids quit. Drill sergeants call them the quitters or the losers. But those aren't incorrect names. I don't know why they just don't finish training. They most likely won't leave for a couple of months.
Only 14 more weeks to graduation. They will flyby. Can't wait to see y'all in October!
Miss and love y'all
– Zac
P.S.- Send pictures of y'all and the puppies.
P.P.S.- Please highlight the edges of the envelopes with blue.
P.P.P.S.S.S. - I'm chaffing so bad as of today I think I might start bleeding from my thighs. I walk like I've been horseback riding. OUCH!
Hopefully I can call in 3 weeks.
Love y'all
Toni Basic Training Letter Aug 21, 22
August 21
Dear Mom,
I LOVE YOUR LETTERS! I love reading them and your voice! I don't get a ton of time to write but I read your letters every night! I love that I always have mail it is the best! It is so cute OMG I showed all my friends my dogs and my little brother (SO PROUD!) GMA Diana wrote me, Aunt Cathy, Bob and Sandy and Ms. Dee!! And Gabby!! But your letters are always the best. I love you so much mom! Dad is so silly, we have these high speed beds that lift up and have storage under them called coffins so I have plenty of space for your letters! In fact send more! Don't forget my 1,000,000 pictures!
*(Dan was worried I was sending too many letters and she wouldn't have the space to keep them so I wrote her and told she could throw them away or mail them back to me if she didn't have enough space to store them.)*
I am SO PROUD of you mom. Like I brag about you all all the time and how my mom and family are working out just like me. I CAN'T wait to see you! So I'm always hungry even though we eat 3 HUGE meals every day. At 6:30-ish at 11:30 and at 16:30 every day. No snacks and no sleep. We are so tired that when they send us to the bays to clean all the females go sleep on the floor in the latrines and on the sinks and even while we are on the toilet. I like to sleep under the sink. OK girls are NASTY. We/they walk around farting and talking about "I just ripped one / I need to crap" all day. That's all I ever hear! But once you shower together, sleep together, eat together and poop next to each other with no dividers it's pretty easy to get used to it. I'm gonna pick up this letter back up tomorrow LOL on that note! Love you
August 22
Oh yeah I forgot to tell you how I got smoked because I stole toilet paper from the cadre Port-a-potty… totally worth it! So we were at the final day of Land Nav and there was no toilet paper except a small role in the urinal. So naturally I decided to grab some out of the drill sergeant Port-a-potty and this kid started yelling at the top of his lungs "THAT'S THE CADRE LATRINE!" And he yelled it like 3 times. So then a drill sergeant says, "HEY YOU!" And I was like crap… And I turned around and I walk towards him with my battle buddy Williams, Z--. He's like "why were you in the cadre bathroom?" I said "because there's no tissue paper drill sergeant" and he said OK I just sent me back to the latrines. Then on my way back to the bleachers and he said "Did you go in the cadre bathroom" I said "no drill sergeant I just reached in to get TP." He asked me again and so I just said "yes drill sergeant" so he yells at me and puts me and Z-- on the ground holding our feet 6 inches off the ground and says if he finds TP he's gonna smoke us more. So he walks away and me and Z-- start cracking up and another drill sergeant hears us and smoked us for like 30 minutes. But during our smoking when we were laying down looking at the sky it was so nice. The sky was so blue and the clouds were fluffy and there was a breeze and me and Z-- look at each other and go "WORTH IT" and just kept laughing. They let us stop after a while. The food here is designed to go in and out within 15 minutes. Every time we eat everyone sprints to the bathroom yelling "MOVE I NEED TO CRAP!" Especially the females. And you know you had to go when you walk out with your pants around your ankles. OH, I wrote my name on my underwear - like right across the butt cheeks and it's so funny because everyone knows it's me. *(She tells us that people steal everything from each other so she has to write her name on her things)* Honestly all people talk about here is poop and farts. Shower time is fun, we all lined up naked with our flip-flops and towels and wait to shower and we all sing and some girls are always yelling and beefing OMG but it's funny everyone gets along here. Except the girls and second platoon… They are so mean… They get their own bay and if we go over there they harass us and are so mean! But we don't hang with them. Plus they lose everything.
OK so we have finished our first week of white face and everything has calm down so much. We got to walk to church today! It's like a half a mile, it's not bad, maybe more. Church is so boring now because all I want to do asleep but I've gone every day so far, plus it's nice to get out and walk (just the 6 of us). Not to mention there are some hot marines here sometimes. OH YEAH! Please write Williams, Z-- and Carr, H------. Same address as me. They never get mail from even their own family and every time we get mail there eyes water up and Z-- is this super pretty girl from Pennsylvania. She's a sprinter. Her family is crazy, her mom is 74 and her dad is 50 and they have eight adopted kids! And H------ is totes my BFF. I was so excited to read Zeke and especially Zac's letter!! It was so funny because everything he talked about I could relate to. Like the first few weeks when we got dropped on the ground outside (which is like sharp cobblestone/feels like sharp hot glass shards) the ground is like 200° and it burns and cuts your hands. Zac complained about that and I laughed. Your hands and heels become calloused so it doesn't bug you after a while. My heels have tripled in size, like I grew new heels, they feel numb when I take my boots off at night. He also talked about all the dummies and how no one listens but everyone tries to "lead" and when someone does the right thing they get called Drill Private. It's SO ANNOYING! But I really am so proud of Zac and I'm happy to be able to relate to him finally. I am also sad because I know that he will be deployed and it scares me for him. Oh, speaking of that, I want to switch to active duty and re-class to Combat Engineer. I really enjoy the lifestyle and the "traveling" and I want to be able to tell all these amazing stories that I hear. But I'll have to see when I get home.
I'm so happy to hear how well you are doing. Dad brags about you and so do I! I'm so so so proud of you doing P90 and walking and eating so healthy! You can do it! I'm so excited to see y'all change and how skinny you'll be. I love your letters, I give up my sleep to read them because they are like the best part of my week. I'm so happy you found my peace sign picture! I was hoping that would make its way to you. I look so goofy in my ACH (Kevlar helmet).
Oh yeah so we are starting our fifth week of training, we spent this whole last week zero-ing our weapons on the range which was cool (it takes forever). We get these high speed CCO red dot laser scopes when we shoot which is also really cool. We have our second PT test on Wednesday and next week we do rifle marksmanship qualifications. Something funny-we have to wear our eye-pro (shooting eye protection glasses) ALL DAY every day from last week until the week we graduate… They are the worst when you look so dumb! LOL. We also get fitted for ACU dress blues on Monday! So lots of fun things have been going on.
So I should tell you about some of the people here…
So I need to start with S--bolt. She's the worst. She's about 5 foot and has anxiety and "I need other people to do everything for me" disorder. Words can't truly describe her, she's always picking scabs on her face and her hair is ALWAYS a MESS. She can't make her bed, do her hair, study, or work out on her own! She makes everyone SO mad. And the worst part is she's from Georgia!! Bringing shame to our state SMH. Everyone here just size and says "freaking S--bolt". The other day she tripped over her own feet running to headcount formation and just laid on the ground dead like...
Dear Mom,
I LOVE YOUR LETTERS! I love reading them and your voice! I don't get a ton of time to write but I read your letters every night! I love that I always have mail it is the best! It is so cute OMG I showed all my friends my dogs and my little brother (SO PROUD!) GMA Diana wrote me, Aunt Cathy, Bob and Sandy and Ms. Dee!! And Gabby!! But your letters are always the best. I love you so much mom! Dad is so silly, we have these high speed beds that lift up and have storage under them called coffins so I have plenty of space for your letters! In fact send more! Don't forget my 1,000,000 pictures!
*(Dan was worried I was sending too many letters and she wouldn't have the space to keep them so I wrote her and told she could throw them away or mail them back to me if she didn't have enough space to store them.)*
I am SO PROUD of you mom. Like I brag about you all all the time and how my mom and family are working out just like me. I CAN'T wait to see you! So I'm always hungry even though we eat 3 HUGE meals every day. At 6:30-ish at 11:30 and at 16:30 every day. No snacks and no sleep. We are so tired that when they send us to the bays to clean all the females go sleep on the floor in the latrines and on the sinks and even while we are on the toilet. I like to sleep under the sink. OK girls are NASTY. We/they walk around farting and talking about "I just ripped one / I need to crap" all day. That's all I ever hear! But once you shower together, sleep together, eat together and poop next to each other with no dividers it's pretty easy to get used to it. I'm gonna pick up this letter back up tomorrow LOL on that note! Love you
August 22
OK so we have finished our first week of white face and everything has calm down so much. We got to walk to church today! It's like a half a mile, it's not bad, maybe more. Church is so boring now because all I want to do asleep but I've gone every day so far, plus it's nice to get out and walk (just the 6 of us). Not to mention there are some hot marines here sometimes. OH YEAH! Please write Williams, Z-- and Carr, H------. Same address as me. They never get mail from even their own family and every time we get mail there eyes water up and Z-- is this super pretty girl from Pennsylvania. She's a sprinter. Her family is crazy, her mom is 74 and her dad is 50 and they have eight adopted kids! And H------ is totes my BFF. I was so excited to read Zeke and especially Zac's letter!! It was so funny because everything he talked about I could relate to. Like the first few weeks when we got dropped on the ground outside (which is like sharp cobblestone/feels like sharp hot glass shards) the ground is like 200° and it burns and cuts your hands. Zac complained about that and I laughed. Your hands and heels become calloused so it doesn't bug you after a while. My heels have tripled in size, like I grew new heels, they feel numb when I take my boots off at night. He also talked about all the dummies and how no one listens but everyone tries to "lead" and when someone does the right thing they get called Drill Private. It's SO ANNOYING! But I really am so proud of Zac and I'm happy to be able to relate to him finally. I am also sad because I know that he will be deployed and it scares me for him. Oh, speaking of that, I want to switch to active duty and re-class to Combat Engineer. I really enjoy the lifestyle and the "traveling" and I want to be able to tell all these amazing stories that I hear. But I'll have to see when I get home.
I'm so happy to hear how well you are doing. Dad brags about you and so do I! I'm so so so proud of you doing P90 and walking and eating so healthy! You can do it! I'm so excited to see y'all change and how skinny you'll be. I love your letters, I give up my sleep to read them because they are like the best part of my week. I'm so happy you found my peace sign picture! I was hoping that would make its way to you. I look so goofy in my ACH (Kevlar helmet).
Oh yeah so we are starting our fifth week of training, we spent this whole last week zero-ing our weapons on the range which was cool (it takes forever). We get these high speed CCO red dot laser scopes when we shoot which is also really cool. We have our second PT test on Wednesday and next week we do rifle marksmanship qualifications. Something funny-we have to wear our eye-pro (shooting eye protection glasses) ALL DAY every day from last week until the week we graduate… They are the worst when you look so dumb! LOL. We also get fitted for ACU dress blues on Monday! So lots of fun things have been going on.
So I should tell you about some of the people here…
So I need to start with S--bolt. She's the worst. She's about 5 foot and has anxiety and "I need other people to do everything for me" disorder. Words can't truly describe her, she's always picking scabs on her face and her hair is ALWAYS a MESS. She can't make her bed, do her hair, study, or work out on her own! She makes everyone SO mad. And the worst part is she's from Georgia!! Bringing shame to our state SMH. Everyone here just size and says "freaking S--bolt". The other day she tripped over her own feet running to headcount formation and just laid on the ground dead like...
*(she literally drew this on her paper)*
And we thought she was really hurt but all she did was scrape her knee. She made people prop her head up and proceeded to go to the HOSPITAL… OMG MOM you would punch her in the face. When she got home she said it was the worst pain she's ever felt. On a scale from 1-10 "it broke the scale". We asked her what the final diagnosis was and she said "abrasion to the knee". We all died laughing I wish you could meet her. Oh, there's a guy here named Sy--n and he's from Washington State. Weirdest person ever. One time he told the drill sergeant he was ready to lead and so the drill sergeant made fun of him and made him be in charge of cleaning detail for the male bay. The next day the whole bay was dirty and the drill sergeant roasted him and made him count off air push-ups. THE BEST part is he was CRYING hysterically counting 1, 2, 3,... bawling. Drill sergeant was like why are you crying?! He said "because I failed my battle buddies drill sergeant" and drill sergeant made us do push-ups until he stopped crying. It was hilarious because he's the size of dad. Then there is SHIN, this 5 ft. 28-year-old guy that looks like he's 50. He's so small but does 300 push-ups, situps and squats every night. He's got a really thick Korean accent and anger issues. One day he asked if the drill sergeant if he could punch someone in the face because they accidentally scratched him what their weapon. He said "No Shin, WTF?" Shin said "drill sergeant I have anger issues". When we do PPT he workouts with a group and calls it SHINSANITY. He's crazy. There is a lot more people to talk about but I'll have to save that for another letter.
I'm having a lot of fun here, I love my platoon and the friends I've made. Gabby wrote me and she said she is excited for school, one of her roommates is super dorky with short hair and really big muscles LOL. Oh yeah her letter made me cry because she told me that a girl I went to elementary through high school with and used to ride the bus with overdosed on heroin. It killed me to think people my age that are dying. I haven't written her back yet but I will soon. Sorry my letters are so scattered I have ADHD LOL. So the candy of choice here is menthol and lemon honey cough drops. Hmm, what else… I think that's all for today. Keep sending me letters! Send me more pics please! BTW I love Connor's grad announcement!! Made me so happy! Send me pics of family and friends! You can send my grad announcements and stuff so I have lots of pics LOL.
I love you. Keep up the good work!!
– Toni
Friday, September 02, 2016
Zac Reception Letter 8-16 -2016
8-16 06:35
Still processing. Hoping today is the last day. I am extremely tired a lot but I manage. To save time in the mornings, I get dressed in the winter PT's and just sleep on top of my sheets. I have to shower at night because it is so cold in the morning it's really hard to get out of the shower. My foot blister is doing well, keeping my feet dry. I don't mind the boots too much, I find them more comfortable than the tennis shoes I got.
I've been thinking about active duty more and more. I think it would be pretty cool to run around and play army for a few years. Plus if I want to stay in, I can choose where I'm stationed. Plus I have a higher chance going airborne while active. I wonder if my unit will send me to air assault school.
I am excited because if all goes well then I will be done with first crazy 72 hours of red phase. I think basic will be hard at first but I think it will be simple by the end. I don't mind getting smoked. Each time is a work out closer to scoring at 300 on the PT test. That's the goal. I'm not worried about push-ups or sit ups, that will come in time, but running is going to be difficult. I figured that if need be, I can just book it and suck it up for 13 minutes if it means getting a 300. I feel like I've lost more weight here. I'm keeping my eating choices clean and green. I figure I'm here and if I don't give 110% then it is almost wasted time. Might as well not scrape by.
The first night I was here, I cannot sleep comfortably on my bunk. Any position I laid in, it felt like it was straining my back but I like my bunk. I'm curious how my bed will feel when I get back.
I've got quite a few things to be excited about coming up. Excited to get another plan when I get home. Excited to graduate infantry school, excited to get some sleep, excited to go hunt a bunch and excited to see y'all and for y'all to see how I've changed. Oh and I am also excited to get my album put together, it should be fun.
The army doesn't seem like a bad career to have. If I want to I can transfer my G.I. Bill to my kids. Also being an NCO seems like fun. Most of them are master BS'ers. So far writing has been the most therapeutic thing. Even though I'm basically having a one-sided conversation, writing helps me sort out my frustrations, and sort through my day. I can't wait to start getting mail back, don't care if I have to do exercises for them.
It's rather funny because with everyone having their heads shaved, a good bit have gnarly sunburns on the top of their heads. They look like red rockets. Luckily I was smart enough to wear sunscreen. I mean it's southern Georgia, it's hot out here. Personally it's not that bad, I'm used to it. The privates who have bad sunburns have resorted to washing their hands a lot with Irish Spring soap because it has aloe in it and then covering their head with Gillette shaving cream because it has cocoa butter in it. LOL.
The amount of stupid stuff people are doing is hilarious. Some thought it would be a good Time to slide down the barracks on their bunks, looks fun, but some kid already dislocated his shoulder.
So many kids are going to sick call. Some for actual problems like one kid got lockjaw somehow. Others are there because they have the sniffles and others are there faking for a medical discharge.
Quitters have to walk around in grey PT's. It looks so shameful. Catch me dead in one of those uniforms. Everyone judges them. One of my goals for basic is say as little as possible. Just going to be a robot following instructions.
These kids in my platoon are interesting. A couple are super nasty. Couple of them are talking about Katanas (not sure what he wrote there) and stuff. One has a big legend of Zelda tattoo and the drill sergeant made so much fun of him. There's this kid in my bay that has these pointy ears, short and a high-pitched voice. DS called him private Martian. That stuck so he never responds to Martian. No DS has singled me out here. Good sign I think.
14:13
Today I got confirmed to ship on Friday. But I'll get to call Thursday so most likely I will call before you get this letter. I am nervous but excited. One thing I am concerned with is the other privates making this hard for everyone. As I was writing that last sentence my company disobeyed orders to stay quiet but yet they again went directly to a low roar. Like it was not even one minute after the DS left, people were just flat out talking. If it gets loud again DS is going to make a stand at position of attention for the rest of the day. It sucks because personally I've said maybe 20 words today. I really don't understand how hard it is to just stop talking for 30 minutes. Apparently it's going to actually kill some of these idiots. The DS's are here to prepare us with good information to know, but half the time I can't even hear. Everyone still has this me against everyone mentality. They don't understand that if one fails we all fail as one. That one kid "hammerhead" I told you about just keep showing he's a piece of crap. Today we were figuring out what to do and a private suggested a plan. Hammerhead then proceeded to ask what his ASVAB score was. The kid answered 54. Hammerhead then replied back "well if you didn't get over a 70 on your ASVAB, don't talk." I mean what a jerk. He also was in formation harassing other privates from Puerto Rico calling Puerto Rico the trashcan of America. He has also expressed how he joined to go kill Muslims over seas. He says he's smarter than everyone here. The more I write about this loser the less real he seems. Like how could anyone be so inbred and hateful?! Don't get me wrong, I don't care about this person but the reason I tell y'all is because it's crazy that someone like that exists. I mean how messed up do you have to be to coin a nickname for yourself and it be "hammerhead". As he is the smartest person here it's quiet ironic that he wrote hammerhead on the outside of his uniform like a dumb ass. I just don't want to deal with these childish kids anymore. They make my life hard.
Supposedly there are three days off in between BCT and AIT. You guys will definitely have to be here. Also I heard that there are two days off in the middle but I'm not holding my breath. If that does happen, I expect a visit.
Honestly I don't care how sucky basic is or how hard it is. At least I'm doing something. Every day there is another day closer to seeing my family again. Even already I'm figuring out more stuff about myself. Just more and more growth. If I break basic down to making it to each meal, then finishing the day, then week, I think it'll fly by.
The weirdest feeling is reaching down for my phone to call y'all but it isn't there. It's funny because as I write I almost expect a pretty immediate reply. Like texting.
As I'm writing right now, the company is getting mad again and won't quiet down so I am waiting for DS to come in yelling. Apparently goldfish have better memories than infantry recruits.
19:48
Hopefully going to be able to go to bed early. Fireguard kills your sleep even though it's only an hour. I've been averaging like three hours of sleep. It's hard but I am disciplined enough to stay awake during the day. Two more days till I can call.
Love y'all
Zac
Still processing. Hoping today is the last day. I am extremely tired a lot but I manage. To save time in the mornings, I get dressed in the winter PT's and just sleep on top of my sheets. I have to shower at night because it is so cold in the morning it's really hard to get out of the shower. My foot blister is doing well, keeping my feet dry. I don't mind the boots too much, I find them more comfortable than the tennis shoes I got.
I've been thinking about active duty more and more. I think it would be pretty cool to run around and play army for a few years. Plus if I want to stay in, I can choose where I'm stationed. Plus I have a higher chance going airborne while active. I wonder if my unit will send me to air assault school.
I am excited because if all goes well then I will be done with first crazy 72 hours of red phase. I think basic will be hard at first but I think it will be simple by the end. I don't mind getting smoked. Each time is a work out closer to scoring at 300 on the PT test. That's the goal. I'm not worried about push-ups or sit ups, that will come in time, but running is going to be difficult. I figured that if need be, I can just book it and suck it up for 13 minutes if it means getting a 300. I feel like I've lost more weight here. I'm keeping my eating choices clean and green. I figure I'm here and if I don't give 110% then it is almost wasted time. Might as well not scrape by.
The first night I was here, I cannot sleep comfortably on my bunk. Any position I laid in, it felt like it was straining my back but I like my bunk. I'm curious how my bed will feel when I get back.
I've got quite a few things to be excited about coming up. Excited to get another plan when I get home. Excited to graduate infantry school, excited to get some sleep, excited to go hunt a bunch and excited to see y'all and for y'all to see how I've changed. Oh and I am also excited to get my album put together, it should be fun.
The army doesn't seem like a bad career to have. If I want to I can transfer my G.I. Bill to my kids. Also being an NCO seems like fun. Most of them are master BS'ers. So far writing has been the most therapeutic thing. Even though I'm basically having a one-sided conversation, writing helps me sort out my frustrations, and sort through my day. I can't wait to start getting mail back, don't care if I have to do exercises for them.
It's rather funny because with everyone having their heads shaved, a good bit have gnarly sunburns on the top of their heads. They look like red rockets. Luckily I was smart enough to wear sunscreen. I mean it's southern Georgia, it's hot out here. Personally it's not that bad, I'm used to it. The privates who have bad sunburns have resorted to washing their hands a lot with Irish Spring soap because it has aloe in it and then covering their head with Gillette shaving cream because it has cocoa butter in it. LOL.
The amount of stupid stuff people are doing is hilarious. Some thought it would be a good Time to slide down the barracks on their bunks, looks fun, but some kid already dislocated his shoulder.
So many kids are going to sick call. Some for actual problems like one kid got lockjaw somehow. Others are there because they have the sniffles and others are there faking for a medical discharge.
Quitters have to walk around in grey PT's. It looks so shameful. Catch me dead in one of those uniforms. Everyone judges them. One of my goals for basic is say as little as possible. Just going to be a robot following instructions.
These kids in my platoon are interesting. A couple are super nasty. Couple of them are talking about Katanas (not sure what he wrote there) and stuff. One has a big legend of Zelda tattoo and the drill sergeant made so much fun of him. There's this kid in my bay that has these pointy ears, short and a high-pitched voice. DS called him private Martian. That stuck so he never responds to Martian. No DS has singled me out here. Good sign I think.
14:13
Today I got confirmed to ship on Friday. But I'll get to call Thursday so most likely I will call before you get this letter. I am nervous but excited. One thing I am concerned with is the other privates making this hard for everyone. As I was writing that last sentence my company disobeyed orders to stay quiet but yet they again went directly to a low roar. Like it was not even one minute after the DS left, people were just flat out talking. If it gets loud again DS is going to make a stand at position of attention for the rest of the day. It sucks because personally I've said maybe 20 words today. I really don't understand how hard it is to just stop talking for 30 minutes. Apparently it's going to actually kill some of these idiots. The DS's are here to prepare us with good information to know, but half the time I can't even hear. Everyone still has this me against everyone mentality. They don't understand that if one fails we all fail as one. That one kid "hammerhead" I told you about just keep showing he's a piece of crap. Today we were figuring out what to do and a private suggested a plan. Hammerhead then proceeded to ask what his ASVAB score was. The kid answered 54. Hammerhead then replied back "well if you didn't get over a 70 on your ASVAB, don't talk." I mean what a jerk. He also was in formation harassing other privates from Puerto Rico calling Puerto Rico the trashcan of America. He has also expressed how he joined to go kill Muslims over seas. He says he's smarter than everyone here. The more I write about this loser the less real he seems. Like how could anyone be so inbred and hateful?! Don't get me wrong, I don't care about this person but the reason I tell y'all is because it's crazy that someone like that exists. I mean how messed up do you have to be to coin a nickname for yourself and it be "hammerhead". As he is the smartest person here it's quiet ironic that he wrote hammerhead on the outside of his uniform like a dumb ass. I just don't want to deal with these childish kids anymore. They make my life hard.
Supposedly there are three days off in between BCT and AIT. You guys will definitely have to be here. Also I heard that there are two days off in the middle but I'm not holding my breath. If that does happen, I expect a visit.
Honestly I don't care how sucky basic is or how hard it is. At least I'm doing something. Every day there is another day closer to seeing my family again. Even already I'm figuring out more stuff about myself. Just more and more growth. If I break basic down to making it to each meal, then finishing the day, then week, I think it'll fly by.
The weirdest feeling is reaching down for my phone to call y'all but it isn't there. It's funny because as I write I almost expect a pretty immediate reply. Like texting.
As I'm writing right now, the company is getting mad again and won't quiet down so I am waiting for DS to come in yelling. Apparently goldfish have better memories than infantry recruits.
19:48
Hopefully going to be able to go to bed early. Fireguard kills your sleep even though it's only an hour. I've been averaging like three hours of sleep. It's hard but I am disciplined enough to stay awake during the day. Two more days till I can call.
Love y'all
Zac
Zac Reception Letter 8-14 through 8-15-2016
8-14 18:56
Slept and cleaned today. Even the two 30 minute naps today made a world of difference.
People are getting more and more acclimated to each other. Others just refuse to be anything other than weenie hut juniors. I've made a couple friends. One is Tim. Prior service Marine, cool guy. The bunk next to me is a cool kid, super nerdy, but super cool. I don't remember a lot of names but I'm cool with a lot of people.
Some kid from our bay was in formation today and was supposed to have passed out. I saw when people were treating him for heat exhaustion. As much as no one really like the kid it still sucks for him. If I remember correctly he is 18 X (special forces candidate). Even if he is just 11B, he is in the wrong MOS if he is passing out in reception. He probably wasn't drinking enough water. Personally I have never been so hydrated.
It's funny because as I was cleaning for inspection today, I remembered so much of dad's cleaning skills. Like when he has us take a broom and sweep out the corners, or when needing to get gunk out of crevices I was the only person to think about using the flat skinny end of my nail clippers. People were just trying to shove their nubby fingers in that centimeter wide crack.
8-15 20:21
Today was pretty decent, almost finished processing. I guess it'll be done tomorrow. I found out from vision that Army should cover lens replacement procedure for my eyes.
This phase is really testing my patience. I want to fight so many people. They just don't follow orders. Today we got dropped while marching to chow because some losers were talking. The concrete was easily 130°+ and we did like four sets and people kept talking. My palms ended up burning and blistering. Oh well, only going to make me stronger.
There is one kid here who coined his own nickname to be "hammerhead". He is literally the opposite of what infantry soldier is. He is just a meathead who bullies people and ignores people when anyone tries to take charge. I don't think he understands that we aren't supposed to be individuals, we are a team. But that's how it is right now.
I have my friends but for the most part I just keep quiet, work out, study or write y'all or Toni. I miss y'all, my guitars and especially puppy kisses.
When I get an address, please send pics of y'all, Zeke as a cadet and the puppies.
Much love,
Zac
PS I don't mind getting smoked. It's a work out closer to the 300 PT score I will get.
Slept and cleaned today. Even the two 30 minute naps today made a world of difference.
People are getting more and more acclimated to each other. Others just refuse to be anything other than weenie hut juniors. I've made a couple friends. One is Tim. Prior service Marine, cool guy. The bunk next to me is a cool kid, super nerdy, but super cool. I don't remember a lot of names but I'm cool with a lot of people.
Some kid from our bay was in formation today and was supposed to have passed out. I saw when people were treating him for heat exhaustion. As much as no one really like the kid it still sucks for him. If I remember correctly he is 18 X (special forces candidate). Even if he is just 11B, he is in the wrong MOS if he is passing out in reception. He probably wasn't drinking enough water. Personally I have never been so hydrated.
It's funny because as I was cleaning for inspection today, I remembered so much of dad's cleaning skills. Like when he has us take a broom and sweep out the corners, or when needing to get gunk out of crevices I was the only person to think about using the flat skinny end of my nail clippers. People were just trying to shove their nubby fingers in that centimeter wide crack.
8-15 20:21
Today was pretty decent, almost finished processing. I guess it'll be done tomorrow. I found out from vision that Army should cover lens replacement procedure for my eyes.
This phase is really testing my patience. I want to fight so many people. They just don't follow orders. Today we got dropped while marching to chow because some losers were talking. The concrete was easily 130°+ and we did like four sets and people kept talking. My palms ended up burning and blistering. Oh well, only going to make me stronger.
There is one kid here who coined his own nickname to be "hammerhead". He is literally the opposite of what infantry soldier is. He is just a meathead who bullies people and ignores people when anyone tries to take charge. I don't think he understands that we aren't supposed to be individuals, we are a team. But that's how it is right now.
I have my friends but for the most part I just keep quiet, work out, study or write y'all or Toni. I miss y'all, my guitars and especially puppy kisses.
When I get an address, please send pics of y'all, Zeke as a cadet and the puppies.
Much love,
Zac
PS I don't mind getting smoked. It's a work out closer to the 300 PT score I will get.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)