Posted on 10/23/2009 2:07:03 PM PDT by murron
It was 4 years ago today that I kissed him goodbye as he left for boot camp in Parris Island. Can't believe how fast the time has flown!
Congratulations and thank him for his service!
Please thank him for his service! And you was well (those who wait also serve).
Once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper Fidelis.
many thanks to your son
OOH-RAH!! God bless you both...
God bless you and your son. we are thankful.
Congratulations. Thank you for your service (sweating through his enlistment!!). Semper Fi
And get his DD214 asap, because they seem to need it alot. Double check, get in writing how long he gets to keep Tricare and the payment plans for it.
Hey! once a Marine, always a Marine!!!
God Bless him
Was he on active duty the last four years? I thought the Marines tour was eight years—four active and four inactive reserves. That’s how my son was, only he signed onto active reserves now. They even called him up from IRR the year before, but he was able to get a deferment for a while.
Anyway, be thankful for his service and his safety.
Please tell your son how grateful we are for his service to our country. May God bless him.
"It was 4 years ago ...... Can't believe how fast the time has flown!
It must have been an eternity for him!
Congratulations and THANK YOU to your son :)
So glad for all of you he came home safely.
God Bless you and yours, sw
God bless him and thank him for giving himself for our country. I am sure your heart will be over flowed with joy when he is back in your arms. The joy you will feel brings tears to my eyes. Thank you for a job well done as a parent in raising your son. I ask Gods favor on him in what ever he plans to do with his future AND WELCOME HOME!!!!!!!!
Many blessings & wishes for a wonderful life to you all!
Bears repeating a few times. I assume he's already made the SGLI decision. Pound into his head that he has benefits coming that he might not think he'll ever use but he needs to learn what they are. Specifically educational and home purchase bennies. It ain't welfare, he's earned them.
And thank him for his service for me, won't you please?
Congratulations! God bless you both. Please let him know how much we appreciate his service to our great nation. Thanks for your service as a family of one who serves - “They also serve who stand and wait.”
Thank you for your sacrifice of your son for four years
Thanks to your son for his service
I would recommend your son register for selective service, get a copy of his dd214 asap, and quickly put together a plan for what he wants to do next. Lots of guys come out of the service feeling a tad disconnected from society. The sooner they have a plan and start executing the quicker things will return to normal.
ABSOLUTELY!!!
Congratulations! And thanks for his years of service!
Congrats...too bad he did not make it a career. He will probably regret that later in life.
A big Semper Fi and thank you are in order!
Semper Fi and God Bless!
My son got out last March from a 20 year career and is
now a Texas State trooper. He did two Iraq tours and
one Afgan.
Imagine my surprise when I didn't learn about the eight year total commitment until a month before I was to be discharged from active duty. Inactive reserves!?! What the...
That was the navy, so I assume all branches have the same commitment. And I didn't have to do anything while in the inactive reserves--despite being in it during 9/11--except notify the navy of a change in address.
Welcome Home Marine!
Thank him for me and God bless!
Semper Fi!
If you really want to help your son, right now they need help.
What you need to do:
1) Assume that they are utterly exhausted. Physically, mentally and emotionally. They need TLC, peace and quiet for a while, and a trip to a (real) therapeutic massage place, for some serious work, because they probably have ouchy places they don’t even know about. They will recover a LOT faster that way.
2) Next, get them to a GP doctor for a complete physical, including comprehensive fluids: blood, urine, and stool. Hopefully an EKG as well. Then off to the dentist, because military dentists have different priorities than civilian dentists. If he has any VA business, make sure it is squared away quickly.
3) If the family has connections to get him a job, now is the time to use them. If he has to go the resume route, he is in for months of demoralizing frustration. (Importantly, right now he might be too tired to go right to work, so good timing is essential.) Don’t let him wait for the ideal job, it is better to get *any* reasonable job at first, especially now.
4) Find an expert to go over his military benefits. To outprocess, he had to sign an inch thick pile of papers, so he needs to have some kind of list of what he can get, when and how.
5) Being able to network with other veterans is worth its weight in gold. They will be welcomed as guests at the veterans clubs, and if there are tangible benefits, find out about them.
6) If they are not in USAA (United Services Automobile Association), get them in immediately. And being family members, you can get in as well. This is the “military and ex-military and their families only” insurance company, banking, brokerage and investment house, and it is the best, AAA gold plated company you can deal with.
Because it is run by and for *only* military and ex-military and their families, it will give you the best rates for insurance, no load mutual funds and bonds, brokerage and banking services. It will save you a ton of money on insurance, and earn you even more in investments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAA
Best of luck on all accounts!
I add my congratulations and thanks to your son and your family for his service.
Your son got out, my daughter re-enlisted. Glory be! Sounds like you were a worrier ‘bout your little warrior. ‘Course, it’s only the Nat’l Guard for my gal, but she’s been to Sand Land twice, and is in her junior year at a state school. She shot 37/40 pop-ups for record fire in basic with the A2 version of the -16, and was Student First Sergeant at her tech training, forming up & marching the whole company to and fro. I made Sergeant when I was in Reagan’s Army; she’ll probably make Staff before she’s out and will end up outranking her dad. Gets good grades in college, too. She’ll probably out-earn me.
Thank God he’s home....safe and sound in the loving arms of his family.
Amen to that. The Marines.”No better friend,no worse enemy’’ God bless him and thank you.
Glad my “brother” made it home.
Once a Marine, always a Marine.
Semper Fi.
Thank him for me.
I’m glad he’s out now—now that there’s no CIC.
That’s what I love about the Marines. I am so glad he chose them for his military service.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.