Parris Island SC & my Marine

  I was kinda glad we cut the trip to New Orleans short.  The reason being because in a couple of days I had to turn around and drive to Parris Island South Carolina. It seem like all I had time to do was laundry and then it was time to go again.
  I don't know if you know much about Parris Island or not but it is where they turn boys into Marines.  My middle son had been in college and decided college just wasn't for him any more.  He told his dad and me that he felt like he was wasting our money and his time.  I appreciated his honesty and asked him what he had planned.  He blew us away when he said he had agreed to become a marine.  We were like 'why the marines?' and he responded we had taught him to go for the best and in his mind they are the best.  Also he loves this country and wanted to give something back to it so show how much he loves it.  Finally he's the child that got the other Geography Bee medal.  He's always wanted to travel the world.  This will get him to places he'd never go to on his own.  We didn't have much choice in the matter and just had to sit back and accept his decision and hope it was the right one for him.

   I was looking forward to the drive because it had been a while since we did we have driven I-20 to Georgia (where my oldest son went to college).  Things were flowing smoothly until we got into Mississippi.  There the traffic came to a complete stop.  We were trapped.  The median had had just enough moisture in it over the last couple of days to make crossing it impossible.  We were expecting to see all sorts of emergency vehicle for it to be at such a complete stop.  Instead we saw nothing.  After over an hour of waiting we found out that a tree had fallen and was blocking the road.  We couldn't imagine how a tree could stop the road like it did.  We didn't understand why the people just didn't get out and move it and why they had to bring a crew in to cut it.

 Finally we came to the area of the fallen tree and realize that the tree had fallen where there was a bridge and the tree had smashed across the whole road damaging both sides of the bridge.   No wonder it just simply couldn't be dragged away and they had to have crews come in and cut it and move it that way.

Finally we were able to go again, but we were way behind schedule.  I must admit we did see a beautiful sunset in Georgia. 

 We finally did arrive at Parris Island South Carolina around midnight.  It took all of our wits just to figure out where the hotel we were staying at was at.  I was so glad we had reservations and called ahead and told them we would be late but we would definitely be there that night and not to give up our room.
      The next morning we had to get up early because things started early on the base.  We got there in time and was ushered into the indoor training facility. They gave us this introduction on what all the requirements were to make our boys Marines. 

 Then the moment came when they started to march in.  You could just feel the pride as these Men were coming in to show off what they can now do. It was so impressive to see.  I was so proud my son was one of them and had made it to this point.

 They kept coming and coming and they were all dress the same.  You think you know your child but when they've been changed like this, even their walking is different and they are all dressed alike it was hard to tell which one he was.  They did tell us what area to sit in so we kinda had a clue of which group he was in. of the 29th.

 After that the men were released for a four hour leave where they could show us around the base.
It felt so good to finally be with my son again after 90 days of barely hearing or seeing anything written from him.  He looked good but he was so horse I could hardly hear the things he had to say.  

He wanted to show us everything which was good because we wanted to see it too.

 This is the area where it all started for him. 

  Here's one of my favorite images.  The pipes are used to draw water from the ocean and then they process it by removing the salt.  All the water on the island is self contained and does not come from other sources.

I was impressed to see this group of recruits walking by.  My son smiled and said that was how he was 60 days ago. 

They had a nice little museum that we went into.   In the museum they showed a film about the marines and the area.  we got a big chuckle over him falling asleep so fast and in such an awkward position.  When he woke up he said they were taught to take catnaps when you can and in any position possible. I guess he learned that part well.

After we went to the museum we drove around so we could see what the island was like.
It was surrounded by salt marshes which makes it very effective for people keeping there and not trying to escape. 

But it wasn't all salt marshes.This picnic area definitely had that in the south feel to it.

Picnic area on Parris Island, South Carolina

Before we knew it our time was up and we had to say goodbye to him.  We were looking forward to the next day when he would become an official Marine and no longer be considered a recruit.

 We drove back to our hotel room.  My other son thought this was such a neat plane and we had to get a image of that.

   That night it pour down rain. When we woke up it was still drizzling. Look how high the water came up is just 24 hours.  Now you know why they are salt marshes.

 They decided to do the ceremony inside the training facility.  My son was very disappointed with that because there just wasn't enough room to show all the things that they had learned.  It still was impressive to see.  And we were so proud for him  and all the other men that had just become Marines.

And here he is marching away knowing he is now officially a Marine.

As soon as he had his leave he couldn't wait to get home.  For ten days we had him home and before I knew it, he was on his way again to North Carolina.
Here's him leaving again.

I Muse: Willis I ever see his curly hair again?

And where has my little boy gone?