McKay, Alive and Well!

McKay wrote us another letter and we wanted everyone to keep updated. We should soon have a picture of him. He writes:

5 August 2008

Dear Family!

Well, we have begun a new week of training. It is starting to form more into formal training rather than just chaos. We did some M16-Bayonet training and learned some attacking strikes. Soon after we went over and did some Pugil Sticks (much like the gauntlet from American Gladiators). We have padded rods and we smack each other with them. I won my match with flying colors. I overpowered the other recruit, which makes me "The Dominator" which I rightfully take from Griffin!

7 August 2008

Well, I got cut off and couldn't finish writing this until today. Nothing has really changed since the 5th. We have just been doing a lot more drilling (marching) with our rifles, preparing for Initial Drill, which is the initial competition between the platoons in Fox Company. If we win it, you can expect a phone call from me. As I have stated previously, our Senior Drill Instructor care very much about his and the platoons image. He is a very proud man, but he is cool. He has served a couple of tours in Iraq and has seen the worst of war. But he constantly talks about all the stuff the troops are actually doing in Iraq which is taking care of the people. Only because he has been there and that's what they have been doing. Staying away from that subject, another cool thing has come up. We have prayer for 5 minutes every night and we separate into our different religions. We started out with 3-4 people in the Mormon group at the beginning. Now, we have 6-8 people who come to our circle almost every night. It is easy to see that the people in our platoon see us as "different" from everyone else in a good way. It really is cool to be able to do missionary work in such a hostile, unclean environment.

Today, we were doing some "cracking of the sticks" which is drilling with our rifles. It was a pretty stressful time. Our Drill Instructors weren't in the best of moods and some people in the platoon were having trouble with some of the movements. So whenever you would mess up, they would scream their lungs out at you and put you in pain with "rifle work outs" which are terrible. I swear the Lord was guiding my hands because I would randomly do the right movements while I was confused on what to do in the first place! However, one of my friends, Recruit Julson was yelled at because he made a small mistake . He lost it, slammed his rifle on the ground and took off out the door. He came back and is fine now but the instructors have a close eye on him.

8 August 2008

Well, I keep running out of time and can't finish this letter so I'll finally finish it now. We have been doing pretty much the same thing. I look forward to chow every day and Sundays cause that means the end or start of another week. Plus, church is like heaven on earth. Today we were out doing some drills with some "weapon inspection" moves. Another platoon from our company, 2122, challenged us to our "weapon inspection." We did and kicked them. Well, I have got to go. I will write later.

Have you guys bee getting my letters? I haven't heard or gotten anything from you guys so I am wondering if everything is alright.

I love you all very much and again look forward to October 17.

Mac

P.S. Let Shay and Griffin know that when I get back, I'll get on World of Warcraft again. That will get me through my MOS training. Plus, if you could type a letter or just print a picture of the family on a normal paper that would really boost my morale here.

Just so you know - we have done both - sent a letter and picture.

McKay Writes Home

McKay wrote a couple of letters recently and we wanted to share them with you.

July 29, 2008

Hey Family!

It is so nice to finally write you guys. It really has been a long week since I have gotten here at MCRD San Diego. But all is good. Last Friday my Platoon 2.1213 finally got together with our Drill Instructors who are a handful. We have our Senior Drill Instructor, Sgt. Brown, (some black dude who very much cares about his self image and is a perfectionist); 2) Sgt. Linans (crazy little Asian dude who always seems like he is going to rip you arm off); and 3) Sgt. Gomez (white dude who yells so much). We are constantly busy every day marching (drilling), cleaning, yelling, and eating. Chow is the best thing ever! The only reason I have time to write now is because I got my wisdom teeth pulled and they put me on bed rest.

Since today is training day 1 (T-1) we haven't really done much besides preparing for training which includes things like getting all of our issued gear, learning how to maintain that gear, and just learning the basics. I have been doing great and have been motivated and optimistic since the beginning. I have easily made some life-long friends here who all look out for each other. We do have the 10% of retards who make it wosre for everyone, but we are moving on. Sundays are the best. They have church here on the base. It is just like regular sacrament meeting. I am so grateful for the church and for all that Heavenly Father does for me. As you could imagine, prayer is mandatory here and it really is cool to see it work. We have about 4 recruits who are LDS in the platoon and we have scripture time every night. We also have 2-3 recruits who come to church because they were curious. Oh, how rough times open people's eyes!

Our drill instuctor has told us many times after seeing each platoon in the company that we are the best, which isn't really surprising after seeing our drill. We are pretty good at marching. Well I have to "get online"now so I'll write more when I can. I love you all so very much and think about you all every day here. Nights are the worst because the emotion is doubled at that time but I will see you all again on the week of October 17, 2008.

P.S. There is a church website for the MCRD that has some pictures of me. I don't know if you have seen it yet but I will let you know about it as soon as possible. I love you all.
Recruit Allen

2 August 2008

Hey family!

Well, it is now T-5 and PT (personal fitness training) is starting to get kickin'. We started doing the obstacle course and it was a lot of fun. We have had some interesting changes with our Drill Instructors. DI Sgt. Linans got booted from MCRD for abusing one of our recruits, so we got a new DI. The new on is DI Sgt. Williams who is cool but is a typical DI. So in reality I don't like him too much. I am always confused still of what is going on but I am getting through.

3 August 2008

Hey family!

I currently am here sitting in church. How grateful I am to have finished 2 weeks of boot camp, only 11 more to go. I can not tell you guys how much I have depended on the Lord and how much he has helped me. Cameron probably could relate when I say that I am so grateful for church. It really feels like I am home.

Our new DIs really have been kicking our butts and it really gets annoying after a while. But I still have held to my goal of not getting ITed (incentive training). We have been doing a lot of drilling with our M16AZ lately and they really make your back sore. But I am surviving. We have also been doing MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) which is pretty fun but very tiring. I have some good bruises from our "Body Hardening" training which is pretty much just punching and kicking each other. Every night it sure does hit home how much I miss you guys. I sure do look forward to the day I will see you all again.

It sure is cool because the other recruits around me are from all over the United States. One of my good friends, Recruit Anderson, is from Minnesota while another is from Texas. About 1/4 of the platoon is from Texas and Cass could probably understand that. Another one of my friends, Recruit Coan, is from Vietnam. He moved to the US 10 months ago, then joined the Marines. Talk about dedication. He even has trouble speaking and reading English so I help him out a lot.

Time has slowly began to speed up as we start getting settled. The afternoons are still long. I think boot camp tests your patience more than anything. So many times I have wanted to punch DI Sgt. Gomez in the face. That guy never shuts up and has too much energy for his own good.

One thing that Abby is going to hate when I get back is how tan I am. San Diego is very sunny so I have gotten a good San Diego tan. Again, I have run out of time and have to close up this letter. I love all you guys and look forward every day to see you all again. October 17 is getting closer which is awesome.

Love,
McKay