The Best Feeling Ever

This past Sunday was so exciting for my mom, Dana, and I because we got to see my brother and hang out with him most of the day! We weren't expecting to see him until the end of the week so it was a special treat to see him so many days earlier. So for anyone who wants to see their Marine a little earlier than expected, here's the story so you know what you gotta do!

The first thing is that you have to be okay with being a little creepy and kind of a stalker. My brother mentioned in his last letter to Dana that he found out that their company was going to go to a Padres vs. Yankees game that Sunday and how it would be so funny if she was there and ran into him. When Dana mentioned this to me Saturday night, obviously I jumped at the chance to go to see my brother. I did some snooping and found out that every Sunday home game, the graduating Marine company of that week gets to go to a Padres game. I looked further into it and found pictures from past games and zoomed in to figure out what section number they sit in---yep, I told you, you gotta be a little stalkerish! So Dana, my mom and I decided to get tickets to the game in a section right next to them just for the off chance we would get to see him.

We got there an hour early and saw them all come in so Dana and I kept our eyes peeled to see him. All of them looked alike and blended together and we missed him somehow! So we went to a DI and asked if this was company E. He said yes. Then asked if platoon 2115 was in there and he said yep they should be sitting there. He asked who we knew and we said Jason Nguyen. The guys were going to get food so he told us we could stand there and wait for him to come down or go up and find him.Another DI asked us if we were waiting for the one guy that went to college and when we said yes he told us Jason was the only one in the whole company who got a 100% on some test. I responded saying that didn't surprise me because he's so smart and the DI said, "Yep, way too smart for the Marines." It was fun to hear them talk fondly of my brother.

Dana and I kept waiting to see him. All we wanted was a glimpse! What we got was so much more than that. At first he was really shocked and confused and didn't know if he was allowed to speak with us but we had talked to one of the DIs there and he told us that my brother was more than welcome to talk to us and we can't get him into trouble because he is done and is now a Marine. Jason, being by the book like always, did not know how to react when he saw us. He made us go away, leaving Dana and I wanting to talk to him even more.

We went to get some refreshments and saw that so many of them kept coming out to get food (they each had to take out $20 and got to eat WHATEVER they want). So we decided to wait there for the off chance that my brother would come out. Obviously he would want nachos and a churro so he had to come out eventually. Sure enough we saw him come through the tunnel and we felt like we just saw a celebrity! He had us follow him into line where he was ordering food. We got to meet some of his closest friends and get our first real look at him. He instructed us to sit further at the top because thats where he was. Sidenote- Jason did order nachos, a churro, and a bag of m&ms.

When we got back in the stadium there was nowhere to sit directly near him so Jason decided to move all the way to the last row where the Marines were sitting and we got to sit directly behind him for 9 innings of the baseball game. We met more of his friends, sent their family and friends pictures and even called some of their family. It was such a special moment not only for us but also for all of them because this was the first time they've gotten any contact outside of the base for three months!

Jason's DI ended up asking him if he knew who we were and gave him a look that all the guys knew meant Jason was gonna be made fun of for a while but it was worth it. Surprising Jason is pretty hard to do so it was really fun to get this opportunity! He looks so fit now and seems to be really natural in this setting. He has made some great friends and even though it wasn't always easy, he made it with flying colors! We're going to get to see him at Family Day on Thursday and then he graduates on Friday! We were bummed we couldn't hug him or anything but it was still pretty awesome to spend a few hours with him and see him in his element. Enjoy the paparazzi pictures that we took. I'll post again after Family Day!

For future reference, they sit at the upper right deck at the games (sec. 325) so the best place to sit is section 323!

6 Days to Graduation!

Hey everyone!

So this is the last post I'm going to be doing before my brother graduates and is officially a Marine! We cannot wait to see him at family day then at his graduation! We are all so proud of him and his accomplishments so far.

So Jason said that everything is getting a little more hectic. They had their final drill and his platoon was pretty shocked because they got last place. They had to go first again which is a disadvantage because the drill masters eyes were fresh. Senior wasn't mad because he thought they looked great and deserved better than what they got. They now get to march like Marines which means they don't have to pick up their knees and get to walk a little more smoothly.

Now that they're so close to graduation, the squad is losing its military bearing since the DIs are getting a little more relaxed and its been bothering my brother. The other squad leaders and guides are acting like they're better than everyone and even acting like DIs and disciplining people and punishing them.

On the 23rd of July, they had a pre test day where the guys got tested on Marine Knowledge, navigation, weapons, and first aid. He said it was really easy but three people in his platoon failed. They were in the running to win the academic award but he's not sure now.

Jason says that his sergeant really cares about them because the night before the test he stayed up until 3 am quizzing people who needed help and was the only DI with them all day.

What is most exciting is that the guys got their orders today and Jason got seven days of recruiters assistance! He doesn't resport until August 27th and for those 7 days he works from 9-5 as a recruiter.

They are a part of a RTR group which is split into three Battalions. Each battalion has four companies. For 2nd battalion the have echo, Foxtrot, Golf, and Hotel. His battalion's nickname is Evil Echo and each company has six platoons. The Battalions have reputations too! 1st Battalion creates men (easy), 2nd Battalion makes Marines (semi-hard), and 3rd Battalion makes machines (hard). From the looks of it, these reputations are true because 3rd Battalion looks way more disciplined because they get ITed harder.

Appearance wise, obviously Jason is gonna look much more different than we are used to! He can grow out his hair a bit. A low regular cut is the lowest fade he is allowed. No sideburns, zero gradual up to a maximum of 3 inches on top. He still has to maintain his weight when he's out because his clothes are very slim fit and he still has to get weighed in.

They got to go to the Marine museum and got to hear from a Korean War Navy Cross recipient and his story was crazy! He's excited to bring us there on Family Day.

On Thursday they did their final PFT. He scored a first class score with 100 crunches, 12 pullups, and a 21:20 run time. His platoon got 2nd place!

Jason got to do a working party at the PX warehouse on Thursday and said it was super relaxing! He got a 30 minute lunch and stuffed his face so much he almost got sick, He got to monitor forming recruits packing bags and said it was really weird talking to recruits that are about to start training. While they were marching to the PX, his sergeant was moving their formation into other recruits way to see if they would move out of their way. He said that the DIs are starting to get pretty funny around them since they're so close to being done.

They got to do the rappel wall and in the morning they were only able to do a 20 ft test rope because it rained but later in the day the chief had them go back and got to rappel the big wall. He got to do the "hell hole" which is the free fall rappel without any wall to support and he said it was awesome!

That's pretty much all that he's been doing the last few days and the next time he writes us he'll be writing as a Marine!!!! I cannot believe he's already almost done! Time has flown by so fast and he might be writing his own post on here soon! Thanks to everyone for your continued support for him. We all appreciate it!

Phase III

Hey everyone!

So Jason has been doing really well these last couple of weeks. I'm going to summarize the last two letters he sent me based on dates!

6.23.13

All they did was practice rifle positions and hike. For the people in the back of the group they were running the 3 or 5 miles with 90 pound packs. They had another 8 mile hike the next week and rifle quals. He was nervous since he had never shot before but like Dana said in the last post, he ended up doing really well!

7.4.13

This was was really crazy since it was a holiday and they had to start field week early and left on Sunday to go to camp out in a warehouse. He really liked shooting and it came really easy to him. FOr table 1, you shoot at the 100 yd, 200 yd, 300 yd and 500 yd and in various positions for 50 shots. He shot expert with a 22 and to get expert you need a 220. He said hes been switched around to different squads a lot. Camp Pendleton had been moving by so fast. He also said he's been craving everything since he's been in boot camp. All he wants is some ice cream, hot cheetohs, soda and BBQ. He said hes made a lot of good friends and a lot are form Orange County.
After doing Table 1 of shooting, they did table 2 and this was combat shooting and he scored 93 out of 100.

7.7.13

Something Jason was most excited about was that they had a bomb lunch of fried chicken and steak since it was fourth of July. They're back at MCRD now and are starting phase 3!! He ended up going to a Protestant service to get out of cleaning...typical but he said he actually enjoyed it. He said that he has heard our last name pronounced in the craziest ways in bootcamp and one of the DIs even calls him N-gina. But they're saying that he and they other Nguyen are the best Nguyens he has ever had.

7.8.13

This day he got ITed a lot because he got caught trying to put his letter writing gear away. So he got ITed for 15 minutes. They had their Company Commander Inspection this day also. Basically DIs from different platoons drill them on knowledge and insect them. They also had Interior Guard the night before and normally there are only 4 people on fire watch but with him there was 5 so he got to go to bed. he next day he was getting fitted for their service and dress uniforms. They also got to go to Hotel Company and teach them stuff and he said it was really cool to be referred to as a third phase recruit and having phase 1 recruits look up to them. Their platoon alone has 90 people because of summer and there are more high school graduates.

7.9.13

They got their uniforms and they fit! He said they look really good but they're wool so they're super hot and itchy. He said his Sergeant cracked jokes and smiled today in a study session and thats when you know they're in phase three is when their killhat smiles.

7.13.13

He said that a lot of people have been getting caught at night reading letters and writing letters so he has been staying low. Crazy how strict they are! He told me how they have to pay for EVERYTHING in bootcamp. From laundry to tailoring, food and haircuts! Crazy!! Jason is also learning how to sew. Yes. How to sew! Because they have to sew their names on their garment bags and their DIs keep ripping them off. He also did the obstacle course that week and climbed the rope. He slid down 15 ft at the end and almost burned off his hands. Jason is super lucy he hasn't gotten sick of gotten hurt because a lot of guys are getting pink eye and getting injured. THey have their final PFT and CFT test this week. Some guy from their platoon got caught eating ice cream though so he's pretty sure his platoon is screwed.



But he seems like he's doing really well! We're all so proud of him and can't believe its less than a month till we see him!! Keep writing and encouraging him!

Hi everyone!

As usual, Jason has been really busy for the past week. Last week was rifle qualification. He spent everyday at the range shooting in the morning and working the target pits in the afternoon. He says, "shooting is actually a lot easier than I expected" and most people can shoot expert pretty easily. He shot at the 200 yd, 300 yd, and 500 yd line in sitting, kneeling, and standing position on slow fire (one shot at a time) and rapid fire (10 in a row). They're only allowed 50 shots and he got expert! He shot at moving targets as well. Fifty shots rapid at the 25 yd line and a moving target at 100 yds. Jason got expert with that too! So he is now an expert shooter!! 

On Saturday, they had an 8 mile hike with a 70 lb pack. Squad leaders had to be in the back so Jason had to do a lot of running. 

Because of 4th of July, they had to cram four days worth of field week into two so it was very hectic. He did day and night land navigation, fire team formations, movement under fire, night infiltration, and some more hikes at night. 

This week is guard week, where he just guards stuff.

Jason is officially in phase three! He gets name tapes, US Marine name tapes for his cammies, and his uniforms will be issued!

Morale has been a little low because of the intensive training, so please keep on writing letters! He says its a great morale booster. With the Crucible coming up in a few weeks, he will need all of our support! 

Only a month until graduation!!

Best,

Dana

Terms and Updates

Hey all!!!

So only a month and 10 days until my brother graduates boot camp! But whose counting? Anyways. My mom found a few definitions for the terms that my brother uses in his letters and it is pretty useful for those of us who aren't in the marines and don't really know what he's talking about sometimes. So here they are!

SQUAD LEADER is a leadership position. There are approximately four squad leaders in the platoon. Each squad leader is responsible for the recruits in his squad and reports to the Platoon Guide. The SDI can hire and fire squad leaders at will.

PLATOON GUIDE (one per platoon) is a leadership position. The Guide, like squad leaders, is chosen by the SDI. Squad Leaders report to the Guide and the Guide reports to the SDI. The Guide, like squad leaders, can be hired and fired but seems to me that it doesn't happen as often with as squad leaders. The Guide carries the platoon flag (the guidon) at the front of the platoon. Being Guide is quite an honor.  

SCRIBE as I understand it is a sort of clerk position and handles paperwork – usually someone with good computer skills.

Okay now that we all understand a little bit more about what Jason is talking about...Here are some updates from him! This letter came to my parents on June 23.

He is now second squad leader. They do squad leaders by height and other people keep getting fired which is why Jason keeps getting switched around. He really doesn't like the system since he's built a relationship with the first squad but now he needs to get to know the members of the second squad. Jason has always been a natural leader so its not surprising to us that he was put in this position! According to Dana, a lot of other leaders talk down to the squads and are rude to them and go on power trips and that really bothers my brother.

The past week was pretty much the same every day. They went to the range to practice shooting. His PMI instructor is crazy but an awesome guy. PMIs act more relaxed than DIs and he even told the guys about this going on in the world like the fact that the Heat won the championship.

Apparently on the first day Jason got in a lot of trouble because he didn't pay attention to where his rifle was pointing. His platoon also got in a lot of trouble because turnos out one of them was messing with their guide's stuff. THey redid his shoe laces, stole stuff, and pt his toothbrush in the toilet for three weeks! He did admit to is but the whole platoon got in trouble and the DI's trashed their squad's area. They put all their locks together, flipped foot lockers, took off our linen and threw it onto one bed, put laundry detergent all ofter the bathroom, knocked everything in the bathroom down, and took their shoes and threw it in the shower and said that it was a "mini" tornado AND this happened all an hour before bed.

They also had a three mile and five mile hike and my brother said it wasn't bad but a couple guys struggled because they had to carry 40 lb packs and at the end of the five mile hike there was a hill at the end but it wasn't bad. They have been practicing shooting all week. They have rifle quals and field week so there might not be a lot of time to write mail. They only get mail twice a week and even though that sucks it is nice that every time mail comes, Jason gets something.

He seems to be doing really well and isn't as sick anymore which is good. Please keep writing him if you have time. It really is what's keeping him going! He's more than half way through and we couldn't be more proud of him!

Moving to Pendleton

Hi Everyone!!!

Jason has been transitioning to Camp Pendleton so he might not be able to get letters as quickly to people and such but he's doing really well and here are a couple of updates on him! He gets mail once a week so he'll try his best to keep up.

He is currently on phase two and started field week, rifle week, and grass week. This is an interesting part of training for him. He passed his swim test and has already taken graduation pictures in his dress blues!

Unfortunately, he went to medical and it turns out that he has bronchitis so he got medicine for that and is much better but it definitely took a toll on his training. He took his initial physical fitness test and he feels weaker than when he first arrived to boot camp. He did well but needs to improve on his pull ups especially being squad leader.

His platoon got second to last on PFT and his Senior was upset. But they moved on a Saturday and packed all day that Friday. Everything is really precise and it took a while to move but at least the waiting gave my brother a chance to catch up on a little bit of sleep.

He's still taking it day by day so keep writing and encouraging him! A little more than a month and he's done!!

Address

Hey everyone!

So oops on my part because I actually wasn't supposed to post my brother's address out in the public to see. SOOO if you want his address to send him a letter, you can email me at vnguyen719@gmail.com OR Dana at danachhum@gmail.com for his address. ALSO, if you don't really write much and are too lazy to go buy stamps or an envelope or whatever, you can email the letter to my mom at dinhstephanie@outlook.com and she can print it and send it for you.

Even if you just want to send a little note of encouragement or some news or sports clippings, he will appreciate it!