1200 hours
Independence Day. Most of the drill sergeants are gone, so today was promised to be laid back and it is. We did nothing but eat breakfast, clean up our lockers, and sweep/mop/make our bunks. I’m trying to write whenever possible, we are almost going to formation for lunch. BRB. Nevermind, people are messing around. That’s what pisses me off sometimes, actually a lot. They think it’s funny turning lights off when we’re busy and we have limited time, getting everyone pissed with their attitudes, telling everyone else what to do but not doing it themselves. Carson and Rodriguez piss me off, and everyone else talks behind their back, it’s just not cool getting all of us in trouble because of them and trying to prove it isn’t. Now we’re outside under the hot sun, waiting for further instructions in our hot BDUs. Sometimes I feel like quitting. Last night, a guy named McKissick was out of his bed when we were supposed to be sleeping. The entire floor got smoked in the night, one guy threw up. It’s hard for all of us, my battle buddy Martinez has torn ligament in his knee, but he does everything he’s not supposed to anyway. He came too far to give up now, but it’s starting to bother him now. He’s a string guy too, could do 90 pushups and 100+ situps, 10:34 2 mile time, but with his knee jacked, he can’t do much anymore. He tries not to show it though, and I respect that. Everyone in our platoon of 60 and company A of 240 with 4 platoons have cried save maybe 10 people. Half of us are males, but even the strongest cried when they called home last Sunday, or in church. I’ve been thinking hard, keeping my head in as much as possible. It’s tough here, whatever I write is only a summary of what we do. The drill sergeants push us to the limit, our feet goes numb from walking everywhere. It’s hot now but bound to get hotter. Last night, we had a thunderstorm, but we were in our classrooms. One came so close it made all our seats rumble. Tomorrow I would have passed the first week of basic training, 2 weeks since I left home. Some of us, all complete strangers, have come so close, but the drill sergeants want us to come closer, and all 60 of us graduate. We don’t get much time to write, but I try to carry a pen and paper with me all the time. Still waiting for some letters, but writing takes off a lot off my mind. We’re getting our rooms examined now, gotta go.