Hey, thanks for stopping by today. How did you find me, do we have a mutual friend? Are you here just looking, are you even reading this? If you feel so inclined, take a minute to leave me a message.Well, I guess something that has to be said right off; we moved to the beach the first week of April….and we are STOKED!! It’s like a new beginning for all of us. Of course, the kids are a little apprehensive, but they’re excited about living in Gulf Shores, but sad because they had to leave their friends. I understand that completely, I moved around several times as a kid and it’s always hard, but I survived; and so will they.
Well, this section is about me. So, I'm going to tell you a little about me, and then I'll tell you why I'm here.
I'm in my mid 30's, I've been married for 13 years. I have a 12 year old daughter, and a 8 year old son; we live in Gulf Shores, Alabama about 1/2 mile from the Gulf of Mexico. Needless to say, the beach is one of our favorite things to do.
As you will see below, I served in the United States Marine Corps where I was a Reconnaissance Marine.
I left for boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina 10 days out of High School, so I was just a puppy.
While attending school for my primary job, I was one of 30 guys selected to take the Recon Indoc (Indoctrination,) out of over 600. This consisted of a modified Physical Fitness Test; modified in the sense that we used boots instead of running shoes, and instead of nylon shorts we wore long camouflage pants. This was followed by what seemed like forever in a swimming pool doing all kinds of fun stuff! :)
Out of the 30 of us, 9 made it. Of those 9, only 5 of us didn't quit once we got to the unit. The hazing was something I'll never forget as long as I live. The good part about hazing is someday it will be your turn, and believe you me....I took the turn! Anyway, where was I??? Oh yes; I'm not sure of the percentages on that, but it's got to be close to 1%. So it is quite an honor to be selected, let alone make it.
I traveled all over the world in those 4 years in the Corps. By far my favorite place I visited is Venezuela. I spent about 3 months there training Venezuelan Marines how to fight an efficient and hopefully successful battle. It is my favorite because I took 4 years of Spanish in high school and could speak the language pretty well, so I could get just about anything I needed with a little help sometimes from a local. I got to act as a translator between my officers and the leaders of the Venezuelan troops. So I was always in the know! And let me tell you, those people party every night! Until like 4 or 5 in the morning. It was nuts!
Well, where there's a favorite, there has to be a least favorite. And without hesitation for me that was French Guyana. A little hole in the jungle on the North coast of South America. We went there to attend a jungle commando course that is put on by the French Foriegn Legion. Something I will never forget about those 40 days is one day a Senior Frenchie enlisted man, who the other Frenchie's told us ran for the French national team, had been running us for close to two hours. Now we were in great shape, but this guy was just totally dogging us. Well, he stands up on a tree stump and tells us in his best Napoleon impersonation..."If anyone comes in last...WE GO AGAIN!" He says this as he strikes his right arm into the air and raises his first finger. We were dumb founded. The confusion and disbelief on our faces could have made a great mastercard "priceless" commercial. Needless to say, one of us came in last....so we went again. Horrible day!
I attended Army Airborne School in Georgia. That was an awesome experience. I went on to jump 27 times over the next 2 years. Not to bad for a Marine. I've jumped into the ocean, the snow, the desert, and at night. I even landed in a tree once! That was a fun night.
I also got to attend the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School. That was 8 intense weeks of training. We shot at distances of up to 1000 yards. You do well to make out the target from that far away. Depending on what you're aiming at, often times the cross hairs completely cover the target.
I served 8 months in Desert Shield/Storm. Thankfully it was nothing like this mess we are in now. Those men and women serving today over there have my utmost respect and admiration, and I wish them all a speedy, safe return home.
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