Do the best you can in all things, keep your mouth shut, eyes and ears open, do whatever they tell you to do when they tell you to do it and never think further than your next meal.
You can do this so NEVER EVER stop believing in yourself and that you ARE making it! Before you know it you'll be graduating and we'll be welcoming you aboard as a brand new shiny Marine.
Originally posted by Carlos_B: thanks Deanosaur. Does Boot Camp go by fast since they make sure your constantly doing something or are there any slow days?
Like any place, school or work, there are slow days that are unavoidable.
But I echo HollywoodMarine's sentiment.
It's all in the mind to get through those three months!
We actually didn't have much down time because it seemed like we were always eating heavy starches and physically exercising (PT) it into muscle and marching marching and more marching back then. The average Private in my Platoon gained twenty pounds they said we'd lose "over there" so I really never thought beyond the next meal.
Vietnam was in swing so we took it very seriously and concentrated on everything they were teaching us. Time didn't pass fast but it wasn't slow either. Day's just passed and then when we graduated we walked around like shell shocked zombies who couldn't believe we were actually allowed to roam around at our own will for four hours. Understand that Recruit Platoons NEVER go anywhere without EVERYONE so it was quite a shock to travel in groups of three to five guys.
I can honestly say for the two thirds of us who graduated there wasn't a moment any of us didn't believe we wouldn't make it. After the second week we were so used to the DI's jumping all over us that we questioned ourselves what was normal anymore.
All my DI's were Infantrymen (as was half my Platoon later on) so when the Senior rode the bus up to Camp Pendleton's ITR with us he told us the truth about boot camp, how the DI's really felt about us and why they were so tough. Tears filled his eyes as he said "Goodbye", "good luck", "keep your heads down", "listen to the guys who have been in-country awhile", "shoot first ask question later", "stay safe", "get home alive."
It's been almost forty years and I'll always remember that bus ride and the whole Platoon tearing up as we left one of the greatest Marines I'll ever know, Staff Sergeant Albert Stewart, United States Marine Corps.
Boot camp wasn't short or long, it was just boot camp. The place that changed me for the rest of my life. Would I do it again? To serve with SSGT Stewart ... you betcha!
I shared my story in hopes it will help you through what's coming ahead for you. But that is when it's time comes which will be sooner than you think.
Right now go out and make life long memories you can tell your children and grandchildren when they reach the age you are now. Have fun as those same memories will also carry you through the rough times you face ahead.
Go take a walk, feel the grass beneath you feet, catch a movie with your favorite dream queen, ride around with the fellas in someone's car. Live now because you'll be sorry later on if you blow this once in a lifetime opportunity.
