First letter received August 6, 2010

Chris wrote:

I have arrived safely to Parris Island. We are about to begin our training. I will write you with more information soon.

Love,

Chris

One of the Drill Instructors enclosed a letter as well and wrote:

Greetings,

My name is Staff Sergeant Stevens. I am the Senior Drill Instructor for Platoon 3084. I am assisted in my duties by three other Drill Instructors. We all have a long journey ahead of us until our graduation on Oct. 22nd, 2010. First of all, let me say that I hope to see as many of you at Graduation as possible. Second, I am honored to have the privilege of leading your loved one on his way to earning the title United States Marine. Recruit Training is inherently stressful and is an extremely challenging experience which most of you already know. Some of you have or will receive letters stating that your loved one is confused or homesick, both of which are perfectly normal. These young men may wish that they never came here, they might feel that this is not for them and that they made a mistake. I promise you this, come graduation your new Marine will not think of it as a mistake but as one of the best decisions of his life. He will be proud to have joined the ranks and to be able to hold the title United States Marine.

My Drill Instructors and I will be with your Recruit every day and everywhere he goes. We will demand much of them and in return we will give them all our efforts to train them to become Marines. Some of you may not recognize your new Marine when you see them for the first time on Family Day which takes place Oct 21, 2010, the day before graduation. Please let me remind you that your loved one will be going through a rigorous training regiment and will need your support. To assist your recruit I ask the following: be positive in your correspondence, let him know how proud you are of him, keep him in the loop of what is going on back home and keep in mind that he will miss home tremendously. Here are some things that you may send if you choose to further support your Recruit in his training: pictures are a plus, anything that keeps their spirits high in turn helps keep their head in the game.

(See address on the main blog page)

Please address any packages attention to Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Stevens. Feel free to contact me via E-mail at clinton.stevens@usmc.mil

(Chris says don't send packages, so that probably means we shouldn't send emails either...just sayin)

Thank you for your time and support,

Ssgt Stevens, C.B.