These past few days have been Hell and I’m glad they are over. I’m gonna come out and say that I hate camping. Camping in Georgia actually because it is too much like Florida. That means it sucks. We left Monday morning and headed out to the field to do some more target practice before we qualified. When we were leaving to get on the busses we had our heavy ass ruck sacks with us. We have to “front load” them because it makes it easier to fit on a bus seat. Apparently our platoon was too slow doing something, so we had to play “get up, get down” over and over again with all of our shit on. What a great way to start out the morning! Monday was basically a huge blur because it was the same as every other hot and sweaty day. I pre-qualified with a mediocre score of 29, which is considered “Marksman”, one shot away from sharpshooter. We spent the night out in the woods, and we slept in the leaves on the ground. Surprisingly I was one of the few who didn’t wake up with spider or ant bites. It wasn’t that bad of a night though. Thomas was my battle buddy for the night so we stayed up talking about family, girls, etc.
Tuesday morning, we woke up at 4am and I had a good ‘ole dry-shave with a dull razor in the dark (sweet!) Breakfast was pretty good, and we got to get in about an hour nap afterwards too which was awesome. We spent most of the day in the shade awaiting our turn to qualify. One thing I was not told was that you can only get a high score on your first time shooting. For example: If I were to go out and shoot 15 out of 40 targets, they would make me go again. On my second try, if I were to shoot a 39 out of 40 targets, it would only count as 23 out of 40 (bare minimum to pass) because you did not do it on your first try. Luckily for me I did’nt have to worry about that. On my first, and only try, I shot 34/40 and fell short of Expert by only two targets. I’m slightly disappointed, only because I have been taught never to be satisfied with anything but perfection…but shit, ocme on! I qualified and I also met my goal of getting sharpshooter. They gave me a medal that is an Iron cross with a target in the middle which I already pinned in my Class A jacket. I was never worried about not qualifying but I’m pretty proud of myself for doing well.
The rest of the day, we got classes on how to creep up on people in the woods and slit their throats from behind, had lunch, and got smoked a few times for reasons that are still unknown to me, but by this point I just roll with it because its almost second nature. We got a bus ride home, got yelled at some, got mail (which was awesome) and ate chow and went to bed. I got a cool letter from my Dad which made me laugh, a sweet letter from my Mom that made me smile, a few cards, letters and pictures from my sister and niece Kelsey, and a funny ass letter from Daniel which I really really enjoyed (Jackass, you got me with that joke by the way lol) and Sammy sent me more of those plastic sheets for my binder (thank you by the way.)
Now today, Wednesday Aug 12th was cool as Hell, but got dampered by some unfortunate news. We got to go out on the field to take classes on the 50. Cal machine gun and the Mark 19 grenade launcher. Let me first say “Holy Shit!” and also “Yes, Yes, Yes!!” Lol, these two weapons kick so much ass its not even funny. I spent my day today shooting machine guns at old tanks and vehicles, tearing them to shit. What did you do?? Lol. I made some range cadre (Army guys who aren’t Drill Sergeants that help us out in the field) laugh today when they used me as an example for the 50. Cal. I sat down and they tried to start telling me what to do, and I cut them off and said, “I know what to do Sergeant… I play tons of Call of Duty 4 for Xbox and I rape on the 50. Cal…” in a slightly serious, slightly sarcastic tone. I love when I get the response, “Private… (deep breath)…(slight smirk)…”
Now I was saying earlier how our fun day was kind of ruined by some bad news. Our battle buddy, and brother, Private “H” passed away this morning due to complications with his condition. Apparently his parents made the final decision to pull the plug this morning around 8am. It really sucks around here right now, everyone is down and some are really torn up over the situation. If you think about it, we are spending 14 weeks together 24/7. We have all gotten pretty close to each other, and we are all we have to keep each other sane. When one of us dies, you can imagine that it will have some kind of effect on the platoon. Apparently we will be having a memorial service for him next week sometime that we will all be able to attend.
On a lighter note, the other night before we left, my friend Logan Thomas who I mentioned earlier woke me up to show me something cool. It was a note from his mother to him, and in her note she asks him if he knows a “Mike Zaleuke”. Apparently his mom found my blog online somehow and follows it. It really is a small world, lol. Out of all the blogs and people in the world! The funny thing is, Thomas is one of my closest friends here at basic training. He and I get along great and are constantly bullshitting around with each other. He is a major reason I am still mentally sane, lol. So, if you are reading this, Hello! LOL.
Okay, well that about wraps up my past few days. I qualified, did real good, I’m home safe resting on my ass, and I’m personally in a pretty good mood. Again, thank you for all of the letters, keep them coming, and I will continue to write. I love you guys.
-PFC Zaleuke
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