Boot Camp Graduation

Boot Camp was tough. Not just for Ben but for us too. We all learned how to get along without much direct contact. Ben called us from Los Angeles and San Diego as he was flying out to MCRD. Our last leisurely conversation was around midnight, California time, on August 6, 2001, as he was waiting to board the bus to MCRD at San Diego airport. He was a little apprehensive but eager to get on with it. At around 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 7, we had a very brief phone call. He told us he had made it to MCRD and that he loved us. The whole call lasted maybe ten seconds.

We then entered a period of letter writing. He was able to write to us a couple of times a week, and we tried to get a letter out to him daily. He really enjoyed getting pictures from home. Finally, after 13 long weeks, we flew to San Diego for his graduation. It was awesome.

There are some really great websites for information about boot camp. Both MCRD San Diego and Parris Island have their own websites. For San Diego graduation, the best place to go for information is Max Beerup's website. This was my primary resource when planning our trip to San Diego. A couple of suggestions for those of you who have a son at MCRD San Diego. Plan early. Your son will get to call home around week 5. By then you need to have your hotel and plane reservations made. If you want to travel home with your son, buy his ticket and send him a photocopy before week five. For his return to San Diego after the ten days of leave he will get following boot camp, make sure you get him on the ground in San Diego no later than 10:30 a.m. on the second Tuesday after he comes home. Max explains it all really well at his website. Thanks Max, you are a champ!!

I also recommend Marine Moms Online (even if you are a Dad). They have two communications resources, a web bulletin board and a Yahoo email list. A bunch of parents with sons in Mike Company (the company Ben was in) met through MMO. We started our own email list so we could share information. And as you can see below, we all got together in San Diego.

I flew to San Diego early in graduation week for business and met Julie at the airport on Wednesday, October 31. Here she is getting off the plane.	[click on thumbnails to see full size images]
Because of heightened security following the September 11 attacks, there was no DI Dinner on Wednesday night. Instead, we organized a gathering for parents of Mike Company Marines at Tio Carlos, a little Mexican restaurant near where we were staying.
It was a true pleasure to meet the people we had be corresponding with while our sons were in boot camp.
Some folks brought special things to eat from their homes. We had smoked salmon from Alaska, boiled peanuts from Mississippi, and chips, salsa, and pecans from Texas.
The people at Tio Carlos were really great. They added tables as our party grew and gave everyone free Nachos.
It made a great way to pass what would have otherwise been a pretty anxious evening.
We met at about 5:30 p.m. and said goodnight around 8:00 p.m. Julie and I went straight to bed so we could make an early start on Thursday.
I had nightmares all night about Ben being hurt or for some reason not graduating. Color me neurotic.