Category: Loved Ones

Home Again

It'd been 7 months since I'd seen my fiance. Now, seeing the faint lights in the distance, and wondering if it was them! I had a million butterflies all doing summersaults in my stomach. It was 3 in the morning when their buses drove up, led by tons of motorcycles reving their engines in celebration and to sound to the families that they had arrived! You cant imagine the joy and nerves until you've been there,"my man is home, my man is home"… is all you feel. I was alone with the crowd of strangers, all of us each looking for our loved one.The beating of my chest was going faster now even more than the day I first met Eric as I looked for him among the throngs of people in the darkness. It was like I was holding my breath. Inside me felt somewhat frantic, but on the outside I was calmy looking, walking, and peering through the dark and past the hats that shielded so many faces. I walked one way and turned around fearing he was getting off the bus behind me, so I'd stop and wait and search each face from a distance… I swear I was holding my breath until I saw him. I prayed, "help me find him, help me find him, God." He saw me first, he had been blocked about 20 to 30 people away from me. When I saw him, it was like adrenaline… after all this time I was seeing him again in the flesh. God had brought him home to me! I was not dreaming. Eric, pushed/manuevered his way past dudes and got to me. He found me. We hugged so tightly and again it is the most surreal and amazing experience to be holding my guy again, and feel his chest against me. A lady from the USO snagged this photo of us as soon as he got me. No one needs to be seen, but him. He is my hero, my best friend, and now my husband. I got to wait for him and don't you forget he waited just as long for me! My birthday is tomorrow and the only thing I wish is that I could've been there for his last year… but thats the sacrifice the other half makes. He is selfless and kind, and also tough as nails when he wants to be. But, he is perfect, and I am so glad to have him home again. Thanks for the best birthday and making my wish come true and coming home to me. I love you eternally.

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The Title

  I am so proud of my father   I am the son of a Marine       He was no ordinary man   He would enlist at seventeen       His father gave in saying, “they won’t take him.”   To Parris Island he went where the pain would begin.       Marine Corps DI’s are the heart of the Corps   Turning men from nothing into so much more!       My dad would remind me over the years   This transformation came from blood, sweat, and tears.       So off to a foreign land thousand miles away   He would brave sub-zero weather and make the communist pay.       These 1st Division Marines would fight insurmountable odds,   Delivering defeat to the Chinese with the protection from God.       As I sat on my footlocker in a squad bay at P.I.   I now understood why Marines are so willing to die.       Marines are the protection, created by our Lord   To secure American safety she could never afford.       I love my country so proud to be a Marine   No greater honor I accomplished my dream.       February 1st can’t come too fast   As my own son’s dream will arrive at last.       Casey will carry on the family tradition   Serving our country with no guarantees or conditions.       He will be a U.S. Marine, the world’s greatest warrior   Committing his life just like those before him.       One fact is certain before our lives are final   As Marines there is no doubt, we earned the title!       Written by Casey Shattuck 1/2/2013   USMC 1979-1985

A Father’s Final Message

A Fathers Final Message

You never know when that moment will hit you and it always catches you by surprise.

It’s the thought of you leaving that rips through my soul and brings instant tears to my eyes.

Now those moments are more frequent as your time here decreases.
It will be most difficult on your mother as her heart is sure to break into many pieces.

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responds to “what other sayings do you remember?

December 10, 2011

Season greetings, Sgt Grid.

I wrote to you a little over a year ago, at which time the subject was “Hollywood Marines vs. P.I. Marines”. I forward a picture of a MCRD SD Marine recruit, proudly wearing his SUN-glasses. Your comment on the story was “…folks you can’t make this up.”, which of course you’re right! So today I’m responding to your request about “what other sayings do you remember?” so here goes.

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No Letter.

Why do I go to the mailbox every day? He told me it was his last letter but still I walk to my mailbox hopeful. Every day I am rejected by my mailbox. No letter. Why do I do this to myself waiting for word that will never come…? No letter. He didn’t give me a reason why it would be his last, surely he would? No letter. I’m angry at the mailman the mailbox at him. No letter. He comes home in twenty two days, which means twenty two days with no word. No letter. No love filled words that decorated the pages of his letters to me. No letter. Perhaps the mail just hasn’t come or my letter slipped within the pages of coupons. No letter. I find it hard to continue to write to him call it selfish but it seems so unfair. No letter. I can’t stop though I need that connection. No letter. Nothing changes how I feel, nothing. No letter.

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