Posted on 03/09/2006 11:16:26 AM PST by babyface00
Please excuse the vanity - its for a good cause.
I have a friend at work whose cousin has joined the Marines and is leaving in a few weeks, presumably for Parris Island.
As many do, the family is throwing a celebratory party before he leaves.
My friend would like to get her cousin something, preferably that he can use in boot camp or shortly after.
As neither of us has close recent experience with someone entering the military, we're not sure what is useful or appropriate.
Some things I suggested:
Phone cards
Stationary and stamps
Are these good suggestions? Anyone have any others? We're not sure what he can use or, more importantly, what he would be allowed to have in boot camp.
Many thanks in advance.
Foot Powder and Insole inserts.
He won't need much in boot camp. Phone cards are good. But boot camp is run pretty spartanly. What he needs most is your congratulations for choosing to serve, along with your best wishes.
Give him your prayers.
The Marine Corps will furnish him everything else.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
There are no gifts you can give to a Marine recruit going into bootcamp. Everything they bring with them, including the clothes on their backs, will be confiscated and not returned until they graduate. Everything they need will be provided for them.
The best thing you can give this recruit is advice:
"In the Marine Corps, there is no 'I think I can' or 'Maybe I will' or 'I might be able to.' Either you do or you don't. There is no in between."
They will provide him everything he needs for boot camp. Buy him a paperback for the plane ride that he can trash when he gets there because he will not be allowed to keep it.
Tell him you'll send him care packages after bootcamp. Cookies, paperbacks, etc.
New toothbrush
New dental floss
New razor and some blades.
Everthing else is a load and he can't keep it.
They will give him everything else he needs.
Give him a good send off.
What? Hey, those postcards are private aren't they? :-)
My uncle got me a Swiss army knife that I still have till this day.
Semper Fi'
Jarhead
You are soooooo bad!
Funny, but bad!
After boot camp, send him condoms and phone cards.
Give him nothing. They will just take it away. While in Boot Camp send only letters with only straight addresses, no cute stuff. No packages, no cookies , nothing but letters.
He can't really take anything to boot. You have to pretty much surrender anything that you brought with you when you go there. 'Care packages' are better when he has finished training and goes to his unit.
I took the clothes on my back and a watch when I was there, and that was about it. We weren't supposed to keep our watches, but it turned out that we needed them for firewatch in boot.
Is he going to Parris Island, SC or San Diego? Not that it matters really, just curious.
The only thing we were allowed to keep was our wallets, assuming that there were no "pornographic" pictures, and cigarettes and lighter. EVERYTHING else, including stationary, toothpaste, soap, was provided by the Corps, in what was called a Bucket Issue. Phone cards would be useless, since pay phone are VERY scarce. Pogie bait is right out, although we had one guy who kept getting sticks of gum in his mail. He got to chew the gum, he just didn't get to unwrap it...
You're not going to make a lot of friends here. We're proud of those who serve, and we don't put stupid kids jokes in our taglines.
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