Army Life and the Gas Chamber

Josh called home today! It was great to hear his voice…I think about him everyday and wonder what he is up to…so I let him do all the talking…

He wakes up every day at 4:30am, sometimes they blow whistles or use an air horn…that sounds relaxing huh?

I asked about the food he says it’s surprisingly good…see, I really know nothing about the Army but what I have seen in movies, I imagined heaps of gruel…

They have issued him a weapon and he really looks forward to time on the firing range. They did bayonet training last week and he really liked that…

The biggest event of the week, or lets call it the event his mother was dreading, was the trip to the gas chamber, it seems many an Army recruit tells stories about this…he was only in for a few minutes but of course it seemed longer. And when you exit, they make you run around and flap your arms to get your heart rate up and get it out of your system…sounds funny, rumor has it they show these videos as part of the graduation presentation!

They also did some team building activities during the week as well…he said that some of the guys just yelled at each other…this echoes the comments about sleeping with 55 other guys and they are all idiots! Still doing lots of pushups…or they like to call it “beating their face”

He’s still a bit homesick but he told Alyssa that the letters really help…so if you are writing to Josh…keep it up, if you haven’t yet, drop him a line if you have a moment!

Until the next call…

Write to Josh!

Received a short letter from Josh today...he wrote primarily to share his address, so if you are reading this and would like to write, his address is listed below.

He did make a couple of comments in his letter, he said the drill sergeants yell at them all the time, they get in trouble for everything and they are doing lots of pushups. Other than that, he says not too bad...decent weather although summers are supposed to be a little sticky...

PVT Evans, Joshua M
E-787-4 Bldg 932
Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473

Place a number 4 on the back envelope flap

05/09/10 - Mothers Day

It has been almost two weeks since the goodbye hug in my living room at 4:30am…Still mad at myself for missing his call when he arrived at Fort Leonard Wood I had taken to carrying my cell phone everywhere I went (even to the bathroom during a sewing class!)

Josh has made precious few phone calls in the last two weeks, to Steve and Alyssa. Since we are all keeping in touch snippets of information were coming my way. He was happy and safe, they had moved his sleeping quarters and he goes to bed at 8:30…the latter most likely because he is getting up at the crack of dawn.

Today he called from his cell phone to wish me Happy Mothers Day. It was wonderful to hear his voice. We didn’t talk for long. He says its both good and bad, the bad comes from fellow recruits that haven’t got it quite figured out yet, there have been lots of unplanned pushups in the first few days of Basic. He bunks with 55 guys and he’s very excited that he will be issued a weapon tomorrow…

This is a whole different experience for all of us, I have no military background and I wish that I could do more to help him through this, but then that is probably the point of not letting them make alot of calls home so they can train them and make them strong. If anybody reading this has any words of wisdom to pass along, please do!

There are letters in the mail that will have his return address on them so I can finally write him a letter…I will pass the address along as soon as I have it; I know he would appreciate the encouragement…

And thanks to MIZ for calling me this afternoon and putting some things into perspective for me!

Till the next update…