Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Outside Reading Q2 Week 3

Part A:
-" It was good for Prish, because it helped him realize the team concept- that he may be a little weaker, but he has the Marines behind him." I liked this quote because it symbolizes the bond that the soldiers are beginning to make with each other. They are forgetting their differences, like above, and backing each other. It's a good step forward for Platoon 3086. They are only three weeks away from graduation too.
- Team work has been an emerging theme in this section, as seen through the quote above.

Part B:
Dear Andrew Lee (Platoon 3086's top graduate),

Over the years, I've heard of a lot of men like you. Strong, courageous, kind, smart; a perfect soldier. But why is it that I seem to relate to you more? I think it is because I relate to you personally in "Making the Corps."

I'll start from the beginning. Your strength of character is shown right in the start of boot camp, right in the midst of chaos. After about 2 weeks of intense physical exercising and drills, the platoon nominates you as their leader. This must have felt great because it has happened to me too. I love the feeling of representing someone else because you know that you have more responsibility now and you need to pull through for the others you represent. Anyway, over the next couple of weeks, everyone gets acclimated with Parris Island. But then, you come across an angry and most likely drunk drill instructor in the halls. He asked you an absurd order, something like "Give me your qualification papers for Platoon 3086 son." But you knew something was different, so you took a stand and said no. I probably would have done the same thing. So what does the drill instructor do... he takes down a flag from the wall and bashes you across the leg, drawing blood. Why did you never report the incident? That was an act of misconduct for sure! So, over Warrior Week is when I really fall in love with the whole idea of "Making the Corps." It seems like it would be a hard road, but at least that week I would have fun. Night drills and fake night missions would bring me back to my middle school days of ding-dong ditching or night games.

In conclusion, I'm very proud of what you did during boot camp Andrew Lee. You led your platoon faithfully so far and I hope you continue to do so for the rest of Parris Island and into the real world.

Greatfully,

Tom Wooldridge

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