Now, I don't know a lot about the military, but I want to tell you (as best I can) about my friend, Jesse.
Jesse's a Marine. Always will be. You know, ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE!
Jesse joined the Marines right out of high school and now the five years are almost fulfilled. WOW!
We prayed for Jesse every day. He has been to Iraq three times! He has been home several times for brief visits, like in the photos above when he served at our Sisters In Christ Banquet.
Jesse has an older brother who is working in Houston and an older sister in Baltimore. He has wonderful parents, a forester and a nurse. Tonight, Hubby noticed just how much Jesse looks like his Dad. His father was giving a presentation for our Lenten service - The Judge.
Jesse has been home for a couple of weeks and will soon go back to Camp Le Jeune till June.
Aside from Jesse looking more mature, he's just the same Jesse he has always been . . . courteous to his elders, friendly, well-spoken.
How can a person be in the military for five years, in Iraq for three tours and just be the same person?
The first answer that comes to mind is that Jesse has very grounded parents. Tonight we were talking and I told Jesse that his father told me back when he entered the Marines that Jesse always wanted to help people. His father had seen that in him as a youngster.
What I was wondering was how much of an adjustment Jesse has to make to ease back into ordinary civilian routine. He will go to college, I'm pretty sure of that, but I think he is not too sure just what he would like to do.
I asked him about the contents of those boxes that get sent to Iraq. I asked him what were his favorite things and he said,
"Cans of soup and energy bars." Simple enough!
I asked him about the food they ate in Iraq and he talked about little packages that when you pull a cord, it heats and you eat it. Hmm . . . he did not seem to be too sorry to be leaving those behind although he pondered that it was a pretty good invention.
He seemed pretty comfortable at church and really was enjoying the potluck. Jesse has always been a quiet person - which I admire in people, probably because I am the opposite. I had to keep asking to get a feel for how he was really feeling about coming back to civilian life.
I asked about his friends because I guessed many of them had moved away and I was right about that. Jesse will also probably be going elsewhere to college and he will make lots of friends, I don't worry about that. He bought himself an SUV and that seemed kind of a sensible vehicle for an attractive young man. (Guess he had all the thrills he needs for a lifetime in Iraq. Of course, we didn't talk about that.)
We talked about simple stuff tonight, and I told him I was going to tell you about him because he is one of my favorite people. I gave him the link to get to this blog.
I think we know from The Greatest Generation that certainly the men who went to WWII wanted to come back to a nice, simple life in a tidy home with a picket fence. I wonder just how different this generation is from that?
We have another friend who was here on leave from Afghanistan and he commented on missing his little boy's daily adventures. So, you know, I am thinking that this generation is also a great generation and hopefully most of them will survive as Jesse has been fortunate to do.
Future plans for Jesse as he eases back into civilian routine?
Jesse's a Marine. Always will be. You know, ONCE A MARINE, ALWAYS A MARINE!
Jesse joined the Marines right out of high school and now the five years are almost fulfilled. WOW!
We prayed for Jesse every day. He has been to Iraq three times! He has been home several times for brief visits, like in the photos above when he served at our Sisters In Christ Banquet.
Jesse has an older brother who is working in Houston and an older sister in Baltimore. He has wonderful parents, a forester and a nurse. Tonight, Hubby noticed just how much Jesse looks like his Dad. His father was giving a presentation for our Lenten service - The Judge.
Jesse has been home for a couple of weeks and will soon go back to Camp Le Jeune till June.
Aside from Jesse looking more mature, he's just the same Jesse he has always been . . . courteous to his elders, friendly, well-spoken.
How can a person be in the military for five years, in Iraq for three tours and just be the same person?
The first answer that comes to mind is that Jesse has very grounded parents. Tonight we were talking and I told Jesse that his father told me back when he entered the Marines that Jesse always wanted to help people. His father had seen that in him as a youngster.
What I was wondering was how much of an adjustment Jesse has to make to ease back into ordinary civilian routine. He will go to college, I'm pretty sure of that, but I think he is not too sure just what he would like to do.
I asked him about the contents of those boxes that get sent to Iraq. I asked him what were his favorite things and he said,
"Cans of soup and energy bars." Simple enough!
I asked him about the food they ate in Iraq and he talked about little packages that when you pull a cord, it heats and you eat it. Hmm . . . he did not seem to be too sorry to be leaving those behind although he pondered that it was a pretty good invention.
He seemed pretty comfortable at church and really was enjoying the potluck. Jesse has always been a quiet person - which I admire in people, probably because I am the opposite. I had to keep asking to get a feel for how he was really feeling about coming back to civilian life.
I asked about his friends because I guessed many of them had moved away and I was right about that. Jesse will also probably be going elsewhere to college and he will make lots of friends, I don't worry about that. He bought himself an SUV and that seemed kind of a sensible vehicle for an attractive young man. (Guess he had all the thrills he needs for a lifetime in Iraq. Of course, we didn't talk about that.)
We talked about simple stuff tonight, and I told him I was going to tell you about him because he is one of my favorite people. I gave him the link to get to this blog.
I think we know from The Greatest Generation that certainly the men who went to WWII wanted to come back to a nice, simple life in a tidy home with a picket fence. I wonder just how different this generation is from that?
We have another friend who was here on leave from Afghanistan and he commented on missing his little boy's daily adventures. So, you know, I am thinking that this generation is also a great generation and hopefully most of them will survive as Jesse has been fortunate to do.
Future plans for Jesse as he eases back into civilian routine?
"I think I will go to Schlotzky's tomorrow!"
[Schlotzky's is a chain of restaurants whose slogan is "Funny Name - Great Sandwich"]
[Schlotzky's is a chain of restaurants whose slogan is "Funny Name - Great Sandwich"]
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