HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!!!!!!

18 years ago today Jake was brought into this world. I just wanted to let everyone know and maybe get some Birthday wishes together. Comment to this entry and we will print it off and send it to Jake.

7.7.09

STOP...WARHAMMER TIME!!!

Dear Mom,

"The last few days have been awesome and disappointing at the same time. We lost initial drill, Badly. ... It was very disappointing. Everything else has been good. Over the last 2 days, I have gained confidence to know that there is nothing impossible, here. I can succeed. After the 1st week, I was at 197 pounds. That was due to lack of physical activity but now I'm all the down to 182 lbs, if you can believe that. I hate when people write me and tell me how they are so tired from work. Do you know how long I work? 15-17 hours a day. People on the outside $8-12 an hour-I make $.80- maybe. I just finally made $150.00 dollars. I have been paying for my training up until now. My check goes towards gear and maintaining my gear. It is $10.80 for shorts, $14 a shirt,$3.00 for socks, and $2.00 for underwear. One set of clothing is mere 10% of my check. So, I can't sympathize when people complain about work. The only person who maybe understands is Chris, and he makes waaaaaay more than me. Mine is more labor intensive, but, I'm just ranting. My birthday is coming up soon. DO NOT SEND ME ANY KIND OF FOOD! EVER! Yesterday, a kid got 81 chewy bars and had to sit down and eat every single one. That's wrong. I really do want however; and am allowed, is WARHAMMER 40K models -SPACE MARINES. Ask Mikey. Some nice ones. Just 5 or 6. Those would be a great gift. I'd be allowed to have some because My SDI loves Warhammer, and he's always calling me in to talk about it. He bought a Codex-a Space Marine rulebook, so we are both learning to play as boot camp progresses. Some Warhammer figures would be nice. Also, Kyle Fabirs is leaving on Monday, July 13th. Call him and wish him good luck. Tell him when he gets here to find out when Fox Co. comes back from up north, and to go to the Mormon church. He'll be garbage 1st phase then, I'm 2nd phase right now. Ask Mikey to print out and send me the general book for Warhammer. My SDI said if I teach him how to play, I might be able to call home. If you send that stuff early, I could do it faster and it'd make my life more enjoyable. So, ASAP! Tell Mikey, Black Templars. That would make me so happy. Tell Don's wife Brenda, thank you so much. She sent me like 60 pictures-if was very nice of her. Well, I'm on duty right now. Please remember what I asked for-ASAP.

Love,

Jake

6.30.09

TELEPHONE POLE JOGGING

Dear everyone,

How are you guys? Oh, you don't know how relieved I was to get Lacey's letters finally, YES! I CAN receive pictures. I got like 8 letters yesterday. It was real nice. Today was a really, really bad day. I woke up and was real tired. This kid kept coughing and waking me up, plus I read letters til 10, than had fire watch from 10-11. I ended up getting about 4 1/2 hours total. In this place, you need at least 7 or it's hard to function. We had a 5:25 breakfast; after, we had PT. Regular day, right? WRONG! PT was spent walking around in teams with telephone poles on our backs, Bogus. We first ran around the track which is a half a mile long. That was gay. The Pole was 800-1000 lbs heavy. It took 10 of us and we had to march it, 3/4 of a mile, with exercises in between. Super gay. Then we got IT'd. I was kind of used to that. Whenever we do anything, it ends in the pit, inevitably. We were then rushed through lunch chow-then, went to drill. The drill master ended up kicking us off the parade deck. So, guess where we ended up? Just guess. Just guess. The pit? Is that your final answer? Ding, ding, ding, YOU ARE CORRECT SIR!......... This time was different. I can't even explain. You don't know the meaning of fatigue and pain. We IT'd with our M16A2 service rifles. Heinous! Just heinous! After those 2 events, I literally couldn't feel my arms. lol. I've been slacking and haven't taken my pneumonia meds, so, I'm getting a fever and chills. Mom, I know how much you hate me ending on a bad note, so, I'll tell you about yesterday-A crazy good day. I woke up five minutes before Lights. That is always a good thing. Being woken up by lights is a miserable experience at best. I got up and went to chow. We went to MCMAP-that wasn't too bad. After that, (scratch that), during that, DI SGT Brewer asked me what size my boots were. Back at the house, he asked me again, so I told him 7 wide. He tells me to put on my nice boots-we all have 2 pairs. Combat boots-tight, uncomfortable and irritating. We also have jungle boots-looser, comfortable and ventilated. He asked if anyone who had a problem with their boots. Long story short, I changed up out a pair of boots for him. His were brand new, he needed a different size-so I helped him out. Now, he really likes me. I'm sorry it's been so long but I've had very little time to write. I have a laundry patrol every night for the last 4 nights. Once again. Heinous. I've decided to include a couple of "Coleisms" in every letter. Ridiculous things my SDI says. The other night it was, "If I had a sniper bazooka, I"d blow you all up!" Yesterday, "I'm a marine, I say everything short and the way I mean it. Big words like 'expedite.' Ha. When I do enhance my sentences, it's with a kill, f***, S***." So, to finish this letter up, I'm going to tell you about Drill. It's a lot more difficult than you'd think. Walk one foot in front of the other, like on a tight rope. Lean back, pick up your knees and drive your heels into the deck. Always carry the stupid rifle everywhere. Gay. Today's Coleism was every time he gets what he wants, he looks around says "Magnificent!" It's just funny. For you people who know about guns, I'm going to go over Inspection arms real quick. Mind you, 83 guys are doing this at the exact same time. Start with rifle at order arms on the deck. Left hand on the hand guard and right hand on the small of the stack. Grab the pistol grip the reverse way and push the hold back button. Pull the charging hurdle till it locks. Push it back in, put it into the air and check the chamber for a round, then, bring it back to part arms. All in less than 10 seconds-Well, got to go. Later.

Suter

Happy Independence Day

I wanted to get this post up as early as I could this morning so that those reading it could keep in their heads the true meaning of The Fourth of July. I took the following from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States).

"In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a Federal Holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain."

Now I've always loved my country but I think that since my son is training to defend the United States, I have become more patriotic. I thank these young men and women who have chosen to fight for and defend this great nation of ours. Many of whom have truly given the ultimate sacrifice and paid the price for our freedom with their blood. So as you go through your day today, take a minute to remember that someone fought for your right to sit by the pool, barbecue hot dogs, and sip on lemonade. Better yet, take a mere five minutes and write a letter to someone you know in any of our armed services. Let them know that you appreciate their sacrifice and thank them for the amazing job they do. Sadly, it took my only son to leave and train to make that very sacrifice before I saw this for myself. My heart goes out to all families who's mothers, fathers, sons and daughters are around this world defending our freedoms and protecting those who need it.

THANK YOU

6.29.09

Sadly, the frequency of letters has gone down but the content has definitely gone up. The last letter Jake sent came in at 5 pages. This one is 7 pages long.


"Dear everyone back home,

I'm hoping this one gets put on the blog because I'm responding to as many people as possible. I haven't had a lot of time to write over the last few days. The other day, I learned 10 ways to kill someone without firing. With a bayonet and rifle stock. It's a very surreal experience. One of the drill instructors said I'd make a very brutal killer. Should I be proud of that? After that, we got to do pugil sticks, which is basically a giant Q-tip. I don't understand what happened. I was up against this Albanian kid who is always messing up. His first thing was to freeze, so I side swiped him with the black end (rifle butt) and he fell down. For some reason I started bashing his head with the red end (representing a bayonet) and I didn't stop, even after the whistle blew. I was declared the winner. I'm not sure if I should be proud. Everyone said it was just great intensity. The longer I'm here, the more brutal I become. Yesterday, we were practicing MCMAP, Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, the drill instructor told me to go against him again. When we were doing submissions, I tossed him and wrist locked him. The drill instructors trust and like me, but hate him. He started to yell cause it hurt, but he didn't tap out. I had orders not to let go till he tapped. Then a drill instructor told me to break his wrist and throat stomp him if he didn't want to tap. So, I almost did it, but he tapped. I don't know if that's right or wrong. All I know is the orders I'm given. So yes, I guess the weakness is leaving me. Ha ha. Thank you for all your letters. You don't know how important they are. If only you were here, you would understand. Dad, I really appreciate what you are doing. I wish I had the time to do the same, but I work sixteen hours everyday, then sleep for eight. I get about an hour of independent work time, but because I'm such an important recruit, I'm usually very busy. I'm the head mail clerk, head laundry recruit, and the linen recruit. That means I'm pretty much busy all the time. I have a lot of responsibilities. I've finally adjusted to everything but one thing. It's hard not to fall asleep whenever we sit down. It's odd though, this place really is inspiring. I saw a recruit save another recruit's life. He was choking, so he jumped over and Heimliched him. Then he sat down and kept eating. That's true humility. Yeah, but I'm adapting. It's not getting any easier, but I'm getting better. I worry though, I think Lacey is going to "Dear John" me. But I guess it's not a problem. I got my brothers here. I hope she doesn't. To the Forreys, thank you for your letter. I appreciate it. Thank you Aunt Jen, any words of encouragement really does help. Thank you Ruby, I really liked your picture. It's very motivating. To Brother Birchall, I really liked your letter. It's nice to know that someone outside of my family cares too. I know I have to keep my head up. I got some help from my SDI last night. He made me feel better. He talked to me about my nerdy side. He loves Warhammer 40K and he had me teach him some stuff last night. That was the best thing that has happened so far. Just being able to sit down and talk to someone. I don't know why our SDI joined the Marines. He could have been many other things. He could have been so many other things. An Officer or a comedian. He's really funny. Or a singer, he really does have a beautiful voice. But I'm guessing some people think that about me too. I have a really hard time climbing the rope. I hate it. I got called a failure and it really bothered me a lot. It's always funny to see new companies.


I was going to end my letter early and just send a four pager, but I guess I'll keep adding on. I was diagnosed with severe left lung pneumonia yesterday. Go figure, right? I swear, I have the worst luck sometimes. I was counting it out. Did you know I make a grand total of $1.80 an hour? Amazing, right? So I was on bed rest yesterday. Today, I feel like a million bucks. I'm freaking ready for anything this place has to throw at me! I put myself back on full duty, even though I'm not supposed to. The SDI won't mind. I miss you guys a lot. Pneumonia is horrible, it makes you hate every moment you exist. LOL. But I have antibiotics now. I excel at MCMAP. My time at BJMUTA, Big John McCarthy Ultimate Training Academy, helped a lot. I turn 18 next month! I guess it doesn't really mean much cause I'm here , and I'll probably get some birthday IT. Drill instructor Sgt. Brewer will probably make me say something dumb like, "It's this recruit's birthday." You guys can't imagine how exciting next week will be. I get to get another shot at the obstacle course. I'm going to kick that things trash! Then we have initial drill! I'm going to kick butt at that too, even though I'm not great at drill. It's a lot to remember sometimes! I kind of feel bad for any attractive women on base. They are always getting stared at. Former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt one said, "The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!" A lot of our instructors are dirty, dirty minded. LOL. Tell everyone in the ward that I miss 'em. Often times here, it's hard to feel the spirit because drill instructors are the anti-christ. I love my SDI though. He just reminds me of home and makes me laugh. "I just used to go to whatever church I thought served chew!" He was walking by the other night before I hit the rack and he was like, "If I had a sniper-bazooka, I'd blow you guys up." Sometimes he "cares so much" he has to IT us. We've all started to really adapt. We move faster and with more intensity. We're starting to be louder all the time. Every single week we are here, we just make leaps and bounds. Of all the things I've learned, I've learned the most about cleaning. I'm now adept at washing and drying cloths, mopping and sweeping, washing windows, cleaning stairs, and bathrooms. He he. It's a lot of work but it's worth it, I suppose. I've also learned to obey orders without question. I'm told to do something and I leap to it. I don't ask why or even wonder, I just do it. LOL. It's a crazy thing. Well, I'm going to go train. I hope this finds you guys well. I love you all.

Love,
Recruit Suter"


WOW!!! I think Jake has really made some big progressions. It's hard for us to believe that he is only in his forth week. We will be waiting anxiously for the next installment.