Far From Home

Saving Jane is an musical group that Lisa likes. I thought the lyrics from their song "Far From Home" would make a great video. I like to learn new things and this seemed like an opportunity to learn a new computer program.

Cheryl said I need to issue a Kleenex alert with this video so watch at your own risk. Actually I'm pretty happy with the way this came out. In addition to pictures from here in Oregon there are pictures from the Parris Island Recruit Depot, Camp Johnson (mechanics school) and Twentynine Palms Marine Corp Air Ground Combat Center (permanent duty station.)

Enjoy and feel free to share.

Ten Months In

It has been 9 months since Lisa left for Recruit Training. After 13 weeks of basic training, 4 weeks of combat training and several months of mechanics school, Lisa arrived at her permanent duty station in Twentynine Palms, California.

Many of the friends that Lisa has made along the way reached their duty stations about the same time. Now several of those are being deployed to Afghanistan.

Before going to Recruit Training at Paris Island, Cheryl met Jordan's mom, Tammy, online at one of the message boards for recruit parents. Jordan entered a couple months before Lisa arrived and they eventually wrote back and forth. Jordan was an encouragement to Lisa. Being 8 weeks ahead she was able to prepare Lisa with her first hand experience about what was ahead in the coming weeks. You may not know this but the Marines are very old school when it comes to training their recruits. There is no communication with the outside world other then good old fashioned, handwritten,snail-mail. No phone calls, no computers, internet or email. Not even any discussion outside the platoons that are going through together is allowed. It seemed to me it must have been odd that Lisa and Jordan would occasionally see each other on base during the month they were both there together but were not allowed to talk or even acknowledge each other. Only the letters that they sent back and forth. Now that they are at permanent stations they can call and text each other.

During Lisa's training period in North Carolina Jordan and her mother Tammy were nice enough to drive over to Lisa's base and pick her up for a day of shopping with them. That is them taking a break.

Originally scheduled to be deployed with her unit to Afghanistan at the end of this month, Jordan received 4 days notice that her deployment was moved up. After traveling via a stop in Europe, Jordan was able to let Lisa know that she had arrived in Afghanistan a few days ago. Tammy's husband Rich deployed to Afghanistan several months ago so she now has both her husband and daughter overseas.

If you say a prayer for Lisa and the rest of our troops, please include this family as well.

Injury Report

Ever since somewhere towards the end of recruit training Lisa has had a pain issue with her hip. Mostly she just did the grin-and-bear-it routine because if you go to medical during Marine Recruit Training you can wind up being moved back to another platoon which means having to try and fit in with a new group of recruits and graduating later then you wanted. The other factor is that going to medical is one way that some recruits use to try and get discharged. When she was in school at Camp Johnson it was common for them to have to run 5-7 miles several times a week and the problem just got worse.

In any case, after several exams and x-rays, her doctor has determined that Lisa has a torn muscle near her hip that needs rest to heal. That is the bad news but the better news is that there are no fractures or issues with the hip joint.

Hip problems seem to be common among the female Marines coming out of Recruit Training and schooling. One of Lisa's platoon mates broke her hip during the Crucible. The packs they have to wear are standard issue and not designed for females the way that you would see in female specific backpacks at REI. As a result the hip belts tend to concentrate the pressure across a narrow band of the hip and according to her doctor the running done with these 40-60 pound packs can effectively mash the muscle up against the hip bone causing the tear. Painful just to thing about!

But at least Lisa now has a good diagnosis and will be starting a therapy program to help her recovery along.