To Twenty-Nine Palms for School

Chris made it through Marine Combat Training at Camp Pendelton and graduated on May 26th. The last week of this training consisted of a Crucible-type exercise where the guys lived out in the field for several days and had to sleep in a "fighting hole" that they dug themselves. They were paired up and the hole had to be deep enough for the tallest of the two to stand up in up to his armpits. That's pretty deep considering some of these guys are 6 feet +. We were able to visit him the weekend before grad and had lots of fun. We stayed with Uncle John, met his Battle Buddy (he's from Scottsdale), went to the beach at Ocenside, watched surfers at San Onofre Beach and saw the worst movie ever - Drag Me To Hell!

Chris is now living at Twenty-Nine Palms with four room mates. Between them, they have all the electonic comforts of home - three X-Boxes, cable TV, wireless network, and a laptop. And he can use his cell phone when he's on liberty (libo) each night. It seems there will be a wait before his school starts and he may be able to come home for Recruiter Assistance duty. He will be able to live at home and work at the Recruiter's office during the day for about two weeks. Would sure be a nice change from all the training he's been through.