SUNDAY, APRIL 9th

Today is Sunday and is considered one of our "days off." By "day off" they mean we have an opportunity to catch up on all of the cleaning. And just to clear things up, we scrub floors with green scratch pads, not toothbrushes. Although, I think my Sonicare Elite could do a killer job on these floors.

Last Friday night someone in our barracks tried to commit suicide. He tried to hang himself using his pistol belt. The pistol belt is about 2" wide, so hanging yourself with is virtually impossible. It was more of a cry for help than a suicide attempt. He has been trying to quit training, but the drill sergeant won't let him because she doesn't want any more people to quit.

Nevertheless, Myers (the attempted suicider) now has to be watched 24/7. So during the day he has 3 "battle buddies" or guards and throughout the night we have one guard posted that changes over every hour. Plus, fire guard (night shifts) have doubled. This means that there are 4 people cleaning our barracks and one watching Myers every night. These people rotate every hour. Anyway, all of this is to say that everyone will be getting much less sleep.

On a brighter note, I received mail yesterday. My parents wrote me and sent me some stamps. My sister also wrote and told me more about my grandpa's funeral. I've read both letters probably about 10 times each. It is really encouraging to be reminded of the outside world. Motivation is hard to come by here. I don't have access to anything. No news. No idea what's going on in the world. No personal events in friends or family's lives. Not even the weather report.

So, this week should be somewhat eventful. On Tuesday we start bayonet training. I'm not sure if we get to use pugil sticks yet (google them if you don't know what they are) but if should be fun. On Thursday we go to the gas chamber, so we get to experience the effects of chemical warfare without a gas mask. I'm rather looking forward to it because I've had a pretty bad cold for the past few days and I wouldn't mind my nostrils finally being cleared out.

Mom, Dad, and Jamie, thank you for the letters. I really appreciated them. I have about two more weeks of "Red phase," which is supposed to be the burn-in or Hell weeks of Basic. After this we go to "White phase," which means we get a few more privileges. Anyway, I've got to go. Thanks again for the letters.

Benjamin