My Journey back to Parris Island

ca·ma·ra·der·ie

NOUN:
Goodwill and lighthearted rapport between or among friends; comradeship.

2005 - Romy and I in the center {of course I sport PI in Hawaii, lol}

One thing about my drive to go back into the Marine Corps is the camaraderie--sometimes you will meet a few deusch bags along the way, but that is everywhere. One of the friendships that I have been privileged to maintain, dates back to boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. Where we formally met and had a moment to talk without DI's hovering over us was at medical. I can't remember why we had to go there by ourselves, but I remember us talking about our current experience at PI. She was really good at drill, and I absolutely loathed it at the time. I believe it had to do with how hot it was in the summertime, and the lack of water. (I must have chugged my canteens dry or something.) Drill to me was monotonous, and bor-ing. {For my fellow female Marines that endured Plt. 4030 with me, now you know why I was quarterdecked/pitted all the time, lol} So, the drill instructors found it in my best interest to have her help me learn how to drill. For the record, I got it down by the time I hit the fleet.



Romy and I at Hooters VA in 2008

Today, I call her Romy instead of her last name, since it has changed, and I am out if the Marine Corps. About a year later, I caught up with her in Hawaii and even got to meet her new boyfriend (now husband). Four years later, I was went to Virginia to visit my inlaws while my husband was deployed to Afghanistan, and we got to reunite and have some fun at Busch Gardens among other places. I am truly greatful that she keeps popping back up!

Took this with my phone :)

So, when she made the grand journey to become a Drill Instructor at Parris Island in January, I told her that I would make it to her graduation. Last Monday, I packed up my little girls and made the eight ride back to Parris Island. My tummy was doing flip flops, and all kinds of crazy things. I had not been back since 2004, and I felt that I must have had some kind of residual PTSD or something. As I am passing the Parris Island sign, I took a deep breath of anticipation. I imagined the surroundings as I did in the dark night on the bus entering the depot. Believe it or not, the island is breathtaking. I didn't really get to absorb the scenery when I was training, so it was kind of neat to finally peel away the tunnel vision that I once had. Arriving at the gate, I expected the Marines to be dressed in Delta's, but they were in cammies. It was just soo different this time around.

Fortunately, I had a wonderful friend from highschool that took me in her home for the week, and was able to give me a fabulous tour of PI, and I was able to give her one as well. We went by my old squadbay from Fourth Battalion, and I remininced about how the baseball field would light up at night during lights out, and I would stare at the lights through the squadbay windows before closing my eyes, and I even tried to take a picture of my old sandpit-- I even thought about getting out, but figured a current DI would come yelling at me, lol. We drove by Leatherneck Square where we did Marine Corps Martial Arts Training (MCMAP). I jumped out of the SUV, and quickly snagged a picture with myself by the sign. It was interesting because a male training platoon was very close by. I was able to explain to my friend about the slide for life obstacle that left me in the water screaming, "From the Halls of Montezuma... to the Shores of Tripoli..." We managed to squeeze behind a marching receiving platoon, and I quickly caught a picture of the yellow foot prints.

Barely grabbed a shot a Leatherneck Square

It was at that moment, that I realized that I would do it all over again. I know that may sound crazy, but I would. When my recruiter was preparing me for the drive to MEPS to ship, he told me the exact same thing. Now, I understand why. Who can say that they survived this mess, and go on to become a Marine?

At Applebees after her  DI graduation 2011

Wednesday came, and I got to see Romy graduate. I am so proud of her, and there were times she would question herself, and she pulled through. Seeing her accept her infamous campaign cover was interesting for me. It is crazy to see a girl that you went through bootcamp with, become a mean, discipline icon. I know that she will serve future recruits well, and will mold young ladies into some good Marines.

Drill Instructor Sergeant Cuppernell

I was also lucky enough to run into my Senior Drill Instructor. When I was on the island, she was a Staff Sergeant, and now she is a First Sergeant. When I saw her after the graduation, I couldn't help but to approach one of the women that has shaped me into who I am today. I was a fragile, timid mess when I arrived in 2004, and I was used to having people walk all over me. These women taught me to fight back, and to get out of my shell. They gave me to the tools to start anew. I never thought I would be saying that today, but it is true. I didn't know if 6.5 years since she had seen me, would recognize me. But, as I approached her, she goes, "G--, right?" I just couldn't help but to thank her. She told me that they tested me, and I tested them. I proceeded to tell her about my brief Marine Corps journey to the fleet, and she reminded me of an email that I had sent to her when I was at JPAC. I freaking forgot that I had emailed her while I was there!! Even though I was talking to her like anyone as I do now, my knees were slightly shaking. I have no idea what that was all about, lol.

First Sergeant Rubalcaba and I-- my former Senior Drill Instructor

By Friday, I was ready to make my trip back home, and see my husband. I missed him so much! I even got him a blue Third Battalion mug for old times sake. For the record (again), my husband has been almost 13 years since he has stepped off of PI, and it still gives him the willies to go back! lol. He is statement was, "It was just a bad time there, why would I want to go back, it was a bad time."

Congratulations Romy!! Thank you for keeping in touch with me over the years. :)

Dirty-Thirty: Part One {Featured blogger: Sgt Johnston- McKitrick}

One thing that I love to blog about is my Marine Corps days, (which will become my continuing saga.. watch out for that!) and I like to find the humor of the craziness I had to go through.

I didn't go through it alone; however, I had quite a few other females that went through it exactly the same time I did. So, as I slowly contact all the girls from my bootcamp platoon known as, "Dirty Thirty", I would like to introduce, "Johnston".

I remember Johnston as being super tall and slender, and drove me crazy with her perfectionism. She was the one that made me want to throw her "One scoop and go!" at her in the chow line. It wouldn't be until we linked up a few years later, that we appreciated our time at Parris Island. So here is her take on what we went through...

Her Story:

At the request of Holly, I have sat down and sorted through all the painful, funny, and embarrassing moments that we shared during our thirteen weeks at Parris Island in 2004. You hear everyone in the military talk about how they made life-long friendships during boot camp/basic training. I scream LIES!! I know, I’m writing this at the request of a friend that I met during boot camp… the difference is we weren’t friends during it. I don’t know if anyone actually became friends with anyone there. Stress does not always bring out the best in people, especially when seventy women are all living in the same room for three months.


Any way, I digress… although at the time, boot camp was horrible, alienating, and downright miserable; looking back I have so many great and funny memories. Ask anyone who has ever served, especially a Marine, and they will tell you boot camp stories until you want to scream.

Our drill instructors were the most formidable women I think I have ever, and will ever come in contact with, but I don’t remember them being vertically intimidating. We of the Dirty Thirty had three Hispanic women who required us to say their names quickly and perfectly. Sergeant De Leon became very annoyed at us for how people squished it together saying “Deli On,” resulting in her yelling one night, “Big D Little E SPACE Big L Little E on” multiple times. Sergeant Gonzales got very irritated that when we had to write out information on duty every night people kept writing “Gonzalez.” This resulted in her yelling, “My name doesn’t end in ‘z!’ I’m not a fricking Puerto Rican!!”

I don’t know how entertaining this may be for anyone else… but at the time, this was so hard not to laugh at. I know how they felt, with my maiden name that I had the entire time I was in, nobody ever said/spelled it correctly. They would always use Johnson instead of Johnston, even when I would tell them “sTon” people would still screw it up.

Another funny story, which I promise is definitely more entertaining than name mistakes, has to do with why we were referred to as Dirty Thirty. We were Platoon 4030, Oscar Company 4th Battalion graduating 1 October 2004. In boot camp, there are specific methods to ask to do everything. If you didn’t say the long phrase correctly, you got yelled at and weren’t allowed to do whatever. Example: “Good Afternoon Ma’am, Drill Instructor Sergeant De Leon, Ma’am. This recruit requests permission to make a head call, Ma’am.” Just to go to be bathroom.

During the first few days of boot camp, no one wanted to step up and ask for permission to do anything. This led to many, many girls who needed to go to the restroom holding it, some longer than they actually could. In the first two weeks of boot camp, at least 4 women wet their pants, one of which continued to do so throughout our stay until the night she accidentally got the girl in the bed below her wet. I happened to be on fire watch this night, and all I remember is one of our shorter girls stumble into the center of the squad bay, arms and legs spread out to try and keep the wet clothing away from her body , crying “Fire Watch!! Philips* just peed on me!!”
*Name has been changed for camaraderie reasons*

You can find her here. :)