Family Day

Words simply cannot express the happiness that I feel at this very moment. I am sitting here in an air conditioned room in a soft bed, I just took a hot bubble bath, and I am more relaxed than I have been in ages it seems. I am sitting next to my sister, and my dad watching television and my little 4 year old niece is laying down in the little bed next to us sound asleep. 

Today we were woken up at 4am by a fire alarm. That started out the day amazingly lol, so by the time we got back in, it was 4:30am which justtt happened to be the time we had to wake up, so I got cheated out of 30 minutes of sleep. We spent the majority of the early morning cleaning and getting safety briefings on what to do, what not to do etc. We were still standing in formation in our PT's when parents started to arrive, so they hurried us upstairs and rushed us into our Class B uniforms. We were told to stand at attention and wait for our parents to come up to the bay area. We heard Drill Sergeant say, " 4th Platoon, I have your loved ones out here, are you ready to see them?" in a highly sarcastic tone that made us all smirk a little. We sounded off with " YES DRILL SERGEANT!!!" He said, "No..no..Your families aren't satisfied with that," and he repeated his question and we would repeat our answer, and it went back and fourth a few times until finally he allowed our families to enter our bay. Almost immediately upon them stepping foot into our bay we heard, "Front leaning rest position...move." We had to get down and we heard, "In cadence, exercise!" (this means do push ups) So as our families entered we were all down doing push ups in our class B uniforms. I saw out of the corner of my eye my father, sister and niece standing in front of me watching, not really knowing what to do.  I could tell my Dad was on the verge of tears because he hadn't seen me in forever and for the simple fact that he was proud. Drill Sergeant called us to attention, and we had to stand there until our families came to "relieve" us. One of the guys went to hug his mom and dad and our drill sergeant said, "Ohhhh no...get down and start pushing (meaning push ups) Private!" lol, so my Dad and sister kind of stood there looking at me not really knowing what to do, and not wanting to do anything to get me in trouble, so as the Drill sergeant looked away I motioned for them to come over and touch me and I mumbled, "If you want me to leave, come touch me!!!" lol, so finally my dad and sister came and gave me a big hug and there was nothing more satisfying to me than when I finally got to hug my father after not seeing him for over twelve weeks. Even I almost lost it, but I stayed strong and powered through the extreme emotions. I introduced my family to some of my buddies, and I said, "Now, lets get the Hell out of here." I showed them around our company where we did morning PT, where we ate chow every day, and showed them the inside of my locker and all of that good stuff. We finally left our Battalion and I took them on a drive to show them where we train, the long roads we ruck on, and some of the firing ranges. We went to the main post, stopped at a gas station where I bought a Red Bull and some candy, which tasted absolutely amazing by the way, and a Drill Sergeant who was wearing civilian clothes gladly went out of his way to point out the fact that I had forgotten to take off my buret inside. I immediately snatched it off my head and cursed myself for being stupid, and apologized to him. If he really really wanted to be a dick, he could have taken down my name and what not and reported me to my company and gotten me into some "little" trouble for being careless, but thankfully he was nice about it considering I am a private and this was my first time off base technically. We went to the main PX which is almost like a small shopping mall where I purchased a Gerber ( look it up ) and a few small items that I was authorized to bring back with me upon arrival tomorrow night, as well as a Barbie doll for my niece which I had promised in a letter to her. After that, all I wanted to do was get off base and away from anything remotely military. Before we did that, we went to the Infantry museum which I absolutely loved. I was greeted by a few volunteer veterans who thanked me for my service and talked to my family for a few minutes before entering. I cant tell you how weird it is to be thanked for serving my country. It is weird because I personally don't see any need for any thanks. I technically haven't done anything to be thanked for yet in my eyes, but apparently others see it differently because of the simple fact that I (and every other soldier in basic training) enlisted to serve my country in time of war. It is a weird feeling and one that really makes you feel proud. It was the first time that anyone has been nice to me in the military. All other times I (and everyone else) am constantly being cut down and told what a worthless piece of shit I am. This will all stop, for the most part, once I graduate and become a full fledged Infantry soldier. It's all part of the game and is part of paying your dues, and it is also what makes being a soldier prestigious. 26 more days left, and I'll stop being called, "shit head" and start being referred to as "Soldier." As cruel as it sounds, It's not really that bad, and makes you smile deep down inside knowing that you have to keep working hard to earn people's respect. Respect isn't given, it is earned, and most of us still have a long way to go. For now, being referred to as Soldier will do just fine. I cant describe the feeling I had upon walking through the museum gates. It was very overwhelming for me at first because I realized that I will soon belong to a brotherhood that is unlike any other. I got to walk through an amazing display of photographs and statues mounted on fake battlefields of soldiers past who were at one time just like me. These guys all went through the same things I went through, and it only makes it that much easier knowing that these guys have done it, and so can I. I've always been a big dork who loves anything to do with history, so I cant tell you how much I enjoyed that experience. There was a section completely dedicated to Basic Training, so I got to take my family through and explain everything and give them some visual aides to go along with all of the stories and descriptions i've given them in the past few weeks. I think it helped paint a good mental picture of what exactly it is that we do here on a daily basis. These blogs that I write sometimes don't seem like enough to me to where at times I almost want to say, " No...you don't understand!" So after today, I feel somewhat accomplished to where I can finally rest knowing that they are aware of the hardships we have to go through with a full understanding of what it is I'm trying to convey through my letters.

After we left, we went and ate lunch at Applebees, and sadly we didn't get kicked out like I envisioned after seeing Talladega nights lol, but I ate a crap load of food and drank a lot of soda and got to catch up with my family which was really really nice. We spent the rest of the evening inside where I got a chance to write a few blogs, play around on the internet, talk to friends, relax and watch some tv, and most importantly just feel like a normal person again. I say this time and time again, but It's amazing how much we take for granted until everything is taken away from us. You really learn to appreciate the little things, and I don't think I could be any more appreciative of something as simple as air conditioning lol. Tomorrow I am going to be awarded the luxury of sleeping in...wow...and then who knows. I don't really care to be quite honest with you, as long as I get to spend some more time with my family i'll be happy. I honestly don't want to go back tomorrow night, but I know that I only have 26 more days to put up with this Hell and I'll be a free man. That is motivation enough to go back and finish what I started.  I still hang on to a quote my Dad sent me, " When you've reached the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." 

Tomorrow will be an emotional day for me having to say goodbye once again, but hopefully it wont be too bad. They will be up here again in about three weeks to see me graduate along with hopefully many of my friends. I cant tell you how damn excited I am...and also excited to end this blog. Some days I have to fight to pick up a pencil and write because I am just too tired to write anything. I made a promise to myself and everyone else though that I would finish this and let them know what is going on, so if you keep writing me, I'll keep writing you.  

 I want to end this blog with some words that I quoted in one of my first posts. This is one that I hold close to and keeps me going strong. 

" My Jungle is made of concrete,

  Through the silence I could feel

  My aim is true, and I will walk on through

  These mountains made of steel."

It's bed time now, and I'm going to enjoy this comfortable bed and the last few hours I have with my family. I love you all, and thank you again for all of your continuous support. I don't think I could have made it this far without you. Goodnight and sweet dreams. 

-PFC Zaleuke