My First Year

Today marks my first full year in the Marine Corps, it is on this day exactly one year ago January the 14 2008 that I got yelled at to “GET THE FUCK OFF MY BUSS RIGHT GODDAMND NOW!!!” and ran off the buss about to crap myself! We ran over to the infamous yellow foot prints… this was the very beginning of my transformation into becoming a United States Marine. Head shaved and tolled we where lower than shit, all part of the process of ripping away our individuality. For three straight months I went through hell and back, with B Co. PLT 1025. i emerged a Devil Dog after the reaper hike, a ten mile hike with the reaper at the half way point… a very large very steep “hill” as our Senior Drill Instructor tolled us… a freaking HILL… bull shit! After we made the five mile trek down the reaper to the parade deck we dropped our packs and marched out, every one exhausted from the three day training evolution to finish the process of our transformation. Evidence of the exhaustion was seen in the swaying of the formation, it took every ounce of strength we had left not to fall over. When handed my first Eagle, Globe and Anchor by my “kill hat” I started to cry… I still remember his words to this day “Melsoni don’t cry… hold you’re barring no matter what, you are a Marine now, don’t ever show the enemy your weakness, (that was his saying “STOP SHOWING YOUR WEAKNESS!” he would yell at us) welcome to the gun club”… Ya and that was supposed to help me STOP crying!!... I tried but could not hold them back, it was the proudest moment of my life… the first time I ever actually fully accomplished something that I set out to do… the first time I felt I actually made my family proud. Today sadly I am still at MOS school at Camp lejune North Carolina for Combat Engineer School and so far loving it. It dose suck seeing all of my friends from boot and from my last school going out to the FMF and getting deployed already… but in a lot of ways it has helped me grow… both physically and mentally, I was defiantly not ready for the fleet yet… I am a LCPL and I did not know ANY thing about leadership which thanks to SGT. Skie, CPL. Bond and my friend PFC. Spain I now know enough to not look like a complete dumb ass when I get there! I have been through a lot this past year, I have traveled more than ever and by myself which I never thought possible! I have learned how NOT to get NJPed and how to meat new people and not be so shy any more… which I also never thought possible. I give God all the credit for my transformation from a shy kid that only had a few friends to becoming a marine and being able to talk to just about anyone about any thing… except females… but that’s another story, yes my Drill Instructors where the tools He used to shape me into what I am… yes He used bad situations to fine tune my attitude, but He still had a place in every thing that has happened this past year, and I am very thankful for all the prayers my family and friends said for me.

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OORAH!! Simper-Fi