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As some of you know my oldest son joined the CG about 4 seeks ago. I was very impressed with his last letter and thought you guys might like it as well.

He started off with "Dad you should have seen me shoot the Baretta 9mm" He was very happy with how well he qualified with it. He scored very well and was very proud.

He also remined me of how much we take freedom for granted. He wrote that even though he is well fed and taken care of he misses his freedom. I believe they are making a man out of my little boy.

He was all talk before he went in on how he wanted to get stationed some where like Hawaii or the Berring straights. They got to list their 4 choices last week....... Galveston is now his first choice. Hmmmm! Home sick maybe?

Thanks for letting me beat my chest a lirttle, if nothing else in life, it looks like I did a good job on son #1 so far.

That's wonderful to hear. I'm glad he's doing well in the Coast Guard.
My little brother went into the Air Force, and we're all very proud of him.

People always say that younger people are no good, but if one watches the news, it's predominantly the 18-28-year-old crowd fighting in Iraq.

That is good news! I wish him the best of luck on getting stationed somewhere that he is happy with!

Thats great news! When I went into the Army, I spent 5 full months at Ft Knox between holdover and extra training for the M1A2 SEP. Despite the lack of freedoms, it was the best experience of my life. Hopefully your son walks away with the same feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction.

I too would say you've done a great job!

That's cool that he got to shoot the Beretta 9mm in boot camp.

When I joined the Navy I got to shoot a bolt action .22 rilfe, about 10 rounds as I remember, in boot camp. (Great Lakes)

When I got to my 1st duty station, Rota Spain, I was assigned to "Base Defence". We were to aid the Marines if the base came under attack.

The Marines "gassed" us a couple of time with tear gas, training you know!

One day they trained us to shoot the 1911 .45ACP.
We received ONE cartridge, went to the firing line, loaded, locked, "Ready on right, ready on the left, ready on the firing line", "Commence fire", "Cease fire".
Made sure the slide was locked open, held the guns over our heads, left the firing line and handed the gun to a Marine who inspected it and gave it to the next sailor in line along with ONE cartridge.
We repeated that eight times that day.

Now I can say I was taught to shoot the 1911 .45ACP by the Marines!
The Marines said something about "The most dangerous thing in the world was a sailor with a gun"

Our training with the "U.S. Rifle caliber 30 M1" was a little more exciting.

I'm glad I got off Base Defence before they got the bayonet training going!

I tried to enlist in Coast Guard. They just laughed, said I was about 60lbs. over the weight limit.
I had to loose 30 lbs. to get in the Navy.

"The good old days"...... OE

Good job, Jim. That's a boy to be proud of there, so hold your head high. Make sure you give him a big "Thank You" from the folks of TexasCHLForum.

JLaw

tell him to keep us posted. i'm waiting on an application packet for a direct petty officer commission for the USCGR.

Semper Paratus

OverEasy wrote:...
The Marines said something about "The most dangerous thing in the world was a sailor with a gun"

Among Marines, we were fond of saying to each other: "The most dangerous thing in the world is a Second Lieutenant with a map and a compass".

Diode....Jim//
Fantastic...know how much he was looking forward to entering he CG....glad his training, etc going along so well.....

ha Galveston....why wouldn't he want to be closer to his ole man! Ha...and even if that doesnt work out....it's easy for them to hop a ride along the way from HA or Alaska!

Thank him for making our daily lives a little more secure!

//John

He called home over the weekend. He is going to Key West, lucky lil s#$%!
He is going to be on the Metompkin a 123 ft Cutter. He got the that because he qualified so well with his firearms. Guess I know where next years vacation will be! Sounds better than Galveston to me.

Congrats Diode. Tell him a big thank you from one of the guys that can't take care of himself or the family right now & is really relying on all military & family to care for me for a few weeks.
My son has 18.5 in the USAF keeping us safe. He is home w/ me while I recover & keeping me safe & cared for here in person now. That is double secure.
I assure you, you have every right to beat your chest. Yes you did a good job on # 1. Commend you for that & him for service.
LT

longtooth wrote:Congrats Diode. Tell him a big thank you from one of the guys that can't take care of himself or the family right now & is really relying on all military & family to care for me for a few weeks.
My son has 18.5 in the USAF keeping us safe. He is home w/ me while I recover & keeping me safe & cared for here in person now. That is double secure.
I assure you, you have every right to beat your chest. Yes you did a good job on # 1. Commend you for that & him for service.
LT

Thank you sir! You are sounding chipper. Keep your chin up buddy!

Skipper5 wrote:Diode....Jim//
Fantastic...know how much he was looking forward to entering he CG....glad his training, etc going along so well.....

ha Galveston....why wouldn't he want to be closer to his ole man! Ha...and even if that doesnt work out....it's easy for them to hop a ride along the way from HA or Alaska!

Thank him for making our daily lives a little more secure!

//John

He seems real excited he got Key West duh! He said a lot of guys wanted to get stationed there. He is like me he likes the Hurricanes.

Diode wrote:
Thank you sir! You are sounding chipper. Keep your chin up buddy!

Yes sir. Whinning never got me anywhere when I was a child. It does not cure any health issue. And it sure make miserable days out of good ones.
LT