Liberty

We left the parade deck and made our way to the Bayview Restaurant. Some people say the Marine Corps doesn't care about the parents and families. I strongly disagree. They have a restaurant that is basically set up so that we, the parents and families, can have a great meal with our sons, so we can get past the first, "I can't believe it's true," minutes. So Dads can discretely shed a tear or two. And so we can all sit, relax, and chatter about a million unimportant things.

Ben ate a huge lunch. An enormous slab of prime rib (the young man carving the beef looked at him and cinched the knife a little to the left for an extra thick slice), a nice big piece of baked chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and eight(!) deserts. Hey! It's a buffet! That's another thing the Marines have figured out! Those boys can really put chow away.

To any parents looking forward to attending their son's graduation, a special tip. Watch the way he drinks. Two hands! And I bet you he calls you Sir and Ma'am in every sentence.

You will find a group of vendors set up in the food court area, selling tee shirts, flags, sweat shirts, key rings, and all sorts of other memorabilia. Be sure to visit the different parts of the PX. Over in the barracks area you will find the Recruit PX. That's a good place to buy memorabilia as well as graduation picture frames, rings, and watches. Get your Marine to show you the aftershave they sell. Ben's favorite was Cobra. While you are in the area you will see recruits in training. Give them a smile, a whispered "Good Luck!" and a thumbs up. I did and was rewarded by an encouraged smile in a face that had looked a little worried a few seconds earlier.

We visited the museum. They have exhibits for all the Marine actions all over the world.

As we were finishing lunch, Ben introduced us to one of his buddies, one of the Marines that had shipped out with him. This Marine lost 65 pounds during boot camp, surviving on half rations and guts, to emerge as a fine, fit, and handsome Marine.	[click on thumbnails to see full size images]
After lunch, we had a great time wandering around and shopping at the PX. Ben borrowed my phone to call someone special back home.
She was there!

I didn't end up taking many pictures during Liberty. I was preoccupied. It was such a pleasure to talk with my son, and to meet his fellows. To a man they were polite and gentlemanly. We left around 6:00 p.m. and went back to the hotel to prepare for graduation day and our return to Texas.