My son, the Marine

ziggy53

My son Sam graduated from Marine Boot Camp, in San Diego, on August 31, 2007. He flew back to Wisconsin, where he was to attend college, had one day of classes, and then received orders that he was being activated.

He will head back to California for more training and then he is to be deployed with his Unit early next year.

This is just after church, yesterday, September 9. He is flanked by his sisters.

Prayers for his safety are certainly welcome.

Thanks,

Yuri Pautov

Congratulations, Ziggy!
You must be proud of such a son!
Its a pity I saw not that much photos of your daughters!
Spasibo,
Yuri

digismile

ziggy53 wrote:

Prayers for his safety are certainly welcome.

and thanks for his courage.

JESTER

Nice looking family Ziggy. Tell Sam congratulations. Did you attend his graduation? I graduated from Parris Island in 1966 and spent 26 years in the Marines. I loved it. I traveled to places and met people that I never would have if I hadn't joined the Marines. (I was with Henry Kissinger for ten days in Alcapulco, Mexico..really tough duty!) Tell him to enjoy the good days and let the bad go by. I will definately keep him and all our military in my prayers. Let us know how he is progressing. He definately looks sharp in those Dress Blues!

ziggy53

Yuri Pautov wrote:

Congratulations, Ziggy!
You must be proud of such a son!
Its a pity I saw not that much photos of your daughters!
Spasibo,
Yuri

Thanks Yuri! I am awfully proud of all my children.

It's a good thing my daughters don't get their looks from me.

ziggy53

digismile wrote:

and thanks for his courage.

Thanks Brad. I will relay your comment.

ziggy53

JESTER wrote:

Nice looking family Ziggy. Tell Sam congratulations. Did you attend his graduation? I graduated from Parris Island in 1966 and spent 26 years in the Marines. I loved it. I traveled to places and met people that I never would have if I hadn't joined the Marines. (I was with Henry Kissinger for ten days in Alcapulco, Mexico for 10 days..really tough duty!) Tell him to enjoy the good days and let the bad go by. I will definately keep him and all our military in my prayers. Let us know how he is progressing. He definately looks sharp in those Dress Blues!

Thanks Jester!

I was not able to make it to his graduation. The distance plus a previous committment to photograph a wedding (made months before I knew Sam's schedule) made it impossible.

His mother, my ex-wife, did take some photos at the graduation and she said she would share them with me, but I haven't seen them yet.

I will pass along your comments.

Angelo

Congratulations Zig and all best wishes that he and all our uniformed men and women return home safely and very, very soon.

ziggy53

Angelo wrote:

Congratulations Zig and all best wishes that he and all our uniformed men and women return home safely and very, very soon.

Thanks Angelo. I will give him your thoughts and I have those same wishes.

Icebear

Semper Fi
I'm a retired Navy Commander, but if I were 20 again and deciding whether to go USN or USMC, I'd go USMC. Those guys are the real deal.

Scott_Quier

I have just two comments to make:

First - Thank you,Sam, for your dedication to duty and courage to carry it through. You are to be commended. Please know that your sacrifices are very much appreciated in many quarters of the American population. Further, please know that you are in our prayers (now that we finally know about you!).

Second - The military works in very weird ways. As many here may remember, my son, Matthew, graduated from The College of William & Mary with a 2LT commission (reserve) in the Army. He was ordered to attend additional training. He went. He came back home with orders that he was assigned to a unit. He tried to contact that unit only to find out that it no longer existed. All phone calls since then and over the course of many months have either not been returned or were non-helpful. All this time, since returning from the above training, he has been receiving like clock-work Leave and Earning Statements (pay stubs for civilian folk) mailed to his correct and current address.

Last week, Matthew received a phone call from a Sgt somewhere. It turns out that he had fallen through the cracks and the only reason they found him was that during a routine audit it was discovered that the Army didn't have current PT test scores on record. It's so bad, they asked him to fax to them a copy of the last orders he had received.

With the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, this sort of SNAFU kinda makes one wonder.

ziggy53

Icebear wrote:

I'm a retired Navy Commander, but if I were 20 again and deciding whether to go USN or USMC, I'd go USMC. Those guys are the real deal.

Thanks Icebear. I'll tell him you said he made the right choice.

ziggy53

Scott_Quier wrote:

...

First - Thank you,Sam, for your dedication to duty and courage to carry it through. ...

...

Last week, Matthew received a phone call from a Sgt somewhere. It turns out that he had fallen through the cracks and the only reason they found him was that during a routine audit it was discovered that the Army didn't have current PT test scores on record. It's so bad, they asked him to fax to them a copy of the last orders he had received.

With the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, this sort of SNAFU kinda makes one wonder.

Wow, that's quite a saga. I will keep Mathew in my prayers as well. Wish him well for me.

Best,

hiroProtagonist

Semper Fi

ShepsMom

What a handsome fella your son is. I would be deathly paranoid about my son getting into Marines. I think it's mothers fear, especially if he's getting activated and to being delployed. Hope he'll be in a good spot. Great shot!

ziggy53

hiroProtagonist wrote:

Semper Fi

Thanks, I'll tell him.

System

I pray that he stays safe-

God bless him and please thank him from me for serving our country-

ziggy53

ShepsMom wrote:

What a handsome fella your son is. I would be deathly paranoid about my son getting into Marines. I think it's mothers fear, especially if he's getting activated and to being delployed. Hope he'll be in a good spot. Great shot!

Thanks Marina. I got maybe 2 1/2 hours sleep the night after I found out. There is always something to worry about with our (that is a collective "our") kids, but these are troubling times for our military.

ziggy53

gefillmore wrote:

I pray that he stays safe-

God bless him and please thank him from me for serving our country-

Thanks George. I'll let him know.

JESTER

ShepsMom wrote:

What a handsome fella your son is. I would be deathly paranoid about my son getting into Marines. I think it's mothers fear, especially if he's getting activated and to being delployed. Hope he'll be in a good spot. Great shot!

Marina, you sound like a true mother. I remember when I joined the Marines at 17. My mother wasn't too happy but said it was my life and I had to live it the way I wanted to. She just put me in God's hands she said. I told her it was either that or being a policeman. Later she told me she was glad I joined the Marines....at least I knew who was shooting at me.:D I went straight to Vietnam after boot camp. I was barely 18. We all worry about our kids, no matter where they are or what they are doing. We all wish Sam the best.

HoofClix

Another Semper Fi !!!
From another fellow Marine, tell him thanks for serving, and that another one will be thinking of he and your family in the coming years...

I hope you've already noticed how it has changed his life for the better!

ian408

Angelo wrote:

Congratulations Zig and all best wishes that he and all our uniformed men and women return home safely and very, very soon.

+1

ob_3

God bless him !

ziggy53

HoofClix wrote:

From another fellow Marine, tell him thanks for serving, and that another one will be thinking of he and your family in the coming years...

I hope you've already noticed how it has changed his life for the better!

Thanks Mark, I'll tell him.

Yes, he is more resilient now. Fortunately, we did a lot together in the Boy Scouts and I really believe that helped especially with field exercises. He was also in football and physically prepared.

ziggy53

ian408 wrote:

+1

Thanks Ian, I appreciate your concern.

ziggy53

ob_3 wrote:

God bless him !

Thanks ob_3. Hopefully He will.

Seneca

It takes very special people to be in the military. Please tell him thank you for me.

ziggy53

Seneca wrote:

It takes very special people to be in the military. Please tell him thank you for me.

I will do that. Thanks Seneca.

JESTER

Ziggy, do you know what his MOS is? (Military Occupational Speciality).