Nathanael's last letter

HE IS COMING HOME NEXT WEEK!!!  YIPEE  Tomorrow is his last day of the crucible.  I understand that the crucible is the hardest part of marine training.  It lasts for 4 days and they are terribly sleep deprived and food deprived.  They only get around 8 hours of sleep in 4 days and very little food and they experience extreme conditions.  I didn't realize he was doing it now until I got this letter today and I think I am grateful because I would have had to worry for the whole time.  We will leave next Wednesday afternoon to head to San Diego.  Thursday is family day and we will get to see him then and then on Friday is his graduation.  We will head home with him on Saturday.  I am anxious to see him, he has lost a lot of weight so I am sure he will look a lot different.  Here is his last letter home:

Aug 26 Letter From Nathanael

Letter From Nathanael August 18

Nathanael got to call home on Sunday and he did finally get us later in the day.  It was really good to hear from him.  He is anxious to get home and eat at jack in the Box!  Thank you to all that are writing to him.  I know it means a lot to him, even if your letters are short. 

Seth and Connor had a birthday party today

Seth Douglass turned 5 yesterday and Connor David turned 1 yesterday and we had a family party out at Spencer's house today to celebrate.  I will post pictures I took.  Anyone reading that isn't sure who belongs to who, Seth is Spencer's oldest child and Connor is Lori's youngest child.  Both born on the same day. 

This isn't the first picture of him eating his cake.  Notice the frosting on his cheek, he took a handful and then Trevor took his shirt off and frosting smeared on his face.  He really had a great time eating that cake.  The cupcakes were the ones Angie made for Seths birthday. 

I thought this was the picture of Spencer lighting the candles with a torch, but I guess it isn't.  I think this was taken right after they blew out the candles.  I think that was where I took a video.  So, here are both the birthday boys. 

A general picture of those at the party.  Spencer, Lori and Kelsie are the ones in the front,  Briana, Aaron, Brandon, Ashly Trevor and Connor are at the table in the back.

This is Connor opening his gift.  Some bath tub toys. 

Seth opening his gifts, he is opening the one that Brandon gave him here, so Brandon is showing him how it works. 

Look what Seth got for his birthday!  He got on it as fast as he could.  And woo hoo, no everyone gets to ride their bike inside the house, but he did a good job of it.  It is a spiderman bike too! 

Grandpa Dees and Connor

I had to put in this picture of Brandon because he seems to always escape the camera and since we got at least one of him, I am posting it.  

Lori and Connor  

Seth opening a gift that some lame grandma wrapped in a WalMart bag.  Who the heck would do that?  Addison is looking on.  

Ok, I am done posting pictures.  I realize when I go through my pictures how bad I am at making sure I get a picture of everyone that is present.  So please no one take offense if you are not featured on my blog!  :0)  Thank you Angie for the yummy cake and the yummy chicken salad sandwiches.  We had a great time and loved being with our family.  Sorry there were those who could not be there, names Preston and Melanie (working)  Sally and Deryk, and Tiffani and Micah (living in another world).  And of course, Nathanael, who I am sure would have picked to be there instead of boot camp. 

August 11 Letter from Nathanael

His writing is so small, it helps to enlarge this to read it. 

Paper written by Nathanael as to why he joined the military

I was cleaning out Nathanael's bedroom, getting rid of clothes and shoes that don't fit anyone anymore. He had a notebook on his desk that looked like an english notebook and I was getting ready to toss it out since he doesn't need school stuff anymore when I noticed this paper. I read it and obviously knew that I had to keep it. It brought tears to my eyes and I wanted to share it with you. Hopefully he doesn't mind. But since he is not here, and he is in boot camp on the start of this journey, he has no vote, so here it is:


A moment that has changed my life was not a big or terrible accident, injury or event; neither was it having a friend that was there for me when I needed on most, though that would have been nice. Instead it is only a few hours spent by myself in silence. Awhile back I was able to travel to Hawaii and while there, visited a national cemetery known as the Punch Bowl, and I also visited Pearl Harbor. On this trip, the things I saw and the things I thought would make a much greater impact on my life than any had ever before. While at the Punch Bowl I was struck by the sheer numbers of the graves of the men who fought and died for our freedom we enjoy today. Thousands and thousands of graves and memorials, not just there, but in cemeteries across the nation. Some say that those graves and those statues erected in their honor is all that is left of all those men, but I say that is not all; the very freedom we all enjoy is a testament of their lives and their sacrifices. There on top of a hill stood a memorial building for our fallen soldiers and inside, a simple message to honor those warriors. The exact wording I can't recall, but there it stated that every one of the men lying in those graves at that place gave all of their tomorrows for our today. Then at Pearl Harbor I stood where bombs had been dropped all those years ago. I stood on the memorial built over the sunken Arizona, and read the names of those men slain that December day. I stood in silence taking it all in and could almost hear those soldiers and sailors speaking to me. Not in a dark or ominous voice, but a happy one. Still they said, "this is where we fought, where we died, and now it is where our bodies still lie. We died fighting to protect freedom against oppression and that freedom you enjoy. What will you do with it now?" Those few hours became many more sleepless nights with that last question hanging in my ears. Many days I spent thinking of the answer to that question and many things I have chosen to do. Without that experience I doubt I could have made the decision to fall in with their ranks as a fellow defender of freedom and join the United States Marine Corps, devoting possibly the rest of my life to service to God and my country. I remember that trip still and though a whole week was spent in that paradise known as Hawaii, that day at Pearl Harbor and the Punch Bowl stand out in my mind the most. That experience has shaped many of my actions since and changed the entire direction of my life. It changed me from dreams of owning my own small business, as many still think is the wiser, to being a warrior on the front lines. Many people question my decision, no knowing my experience, asking how I can so simply just sign away my life, but to them I cannot explain the powerful experience of that day, nor do I wish to. The choice was mine, the message to me, and though it will be a difficult path, I know why I must do these things I have chosen to do. So if this choice has led me to an early death; don't mourn my decision, I did what needed to be done and lived without regret, rejoice knowing that I knew the joy of selfless service to others and died a good and happy man.

August 4 letter from Nathanael

July 30th Letter from Nathanael

You have to double click on the letter to make it show the whole thing, the edge is cut of if you dont'

Connor's first hair Cut and No, I wasn't torturing him!

This is Connor before the torture aka hair cut began.  I should have taken a picture of the curls in the back.

I guess this was about the time the torture began.  I think he was so tired that he just wanted his mom.  He didn't like sitting on the counter away from her.  But he stayed.  (at least that is the grandma interpretation of what was going on.  Couldn't be that he hated me cutting his hair!!!)

Is that the saddest face you have ever seen?  I'm so sorry Connor!  

He was in full mode by now.  It was really hard to do a decent hair cut when he was so unhappy.  Maybe next time he will be happier.  :0)

Much happier with his mom.  No huge gauges anywhere, so he is good to go.  I just hope no "real" hairdressers check out his hair cut.   

This is another letter from Nathanael yes one yesterday and one today

Another Letter from Nathanael

You will really have to enlarge this one to see it!

Last Week's Letter from Nathanael

This letter came last week while we were gone.  Hope everyone is writing to him often. 

Gone all week

We started on Tuesday going to Las Vegas.  We had a 2 night stay at a 5 star resort for free.  We also got a $50.00 free dinner.  It was a nice getaway and all we had to do was listen to a guy try to sell us a time share!  :0)  This is the living area of the room we stayed in. 

This is the kitchen.  It was really nice

They had a jacuzzi tub right off the bedroom.  We had a nice, relaxing time.  Then we took off on Thursday and headed to California to spend the rest of the week at Don and Ann's house.  They were having a huge birthday party for Don on Saturday so VerLynn helped Don  put up a windmill and I helped Ann make some food for the party.  I am going to post pictures of their place.  It is unbelievable that they have what they do in their backyard.  I am going to post pictures so you can capture some of what they have. 

This picture is inside the "diner" they built in front of their huge garage that houses all of their classic cars.  It is a functioning kitchen and is stocked with everything you would need.  We grilled hamburgers behind that counter and made probably 100 milkshakes in there. 

This is the garage, as you can see there are at least 8 garage door openings.  Notice the landscape on the right.  It is just a tiny taste of the awesome lush landscape they have in their back yard.  You can't see the house from the shop even because of the landscaping. 

These are the fans in the diner, they are awesome.  The motor above the door runs all of them, you can see that they are all driven by the belts that run to each of them. 

This is inside the garage and it is the first in a series of store fronts that will be in the garage.  This one is the restrooms, men on the right, women on the left.  I think their next one will be a parts house. 
We had a great time and I wish I had pictures of the backyard to show you.  I told VerLynn that I would feel like I was in heaven even if I lived in a tiny house that was set in their back yard. 
Happy Birthday to Don and to Tiffani and to Addison and to Michele Wheeler (our "adopted" daughter)  Hope you all had a great day! 

Nathanael's letter

Thought I would post his address again so you don't have to look so far down to find it:
Recruit Dees, Nathanael C.
1st RT BN CHARLIE CO.  PLATOON 1049
40002 Midway Ave
San Diego, CA  92140-5550

Two letters came from Nathanael Today

We got two letters today from Nathanael.  VerLynn wanted me to scan them so that everyone could see the stationary that he writes on also.  So after several failed attempts, I finally figured out that you have to scan them as a picture or this blogger page will not load them.  So here they are:

      

Letter to Home

Here is Nathanael's letter typed as well as I can figure out his handwriting.

Dear Family,
I got your letter (that would my Mom's letter) and I don't really think you would want to know what I'm going through.  I think it's enough to say that the past couple weeks have been terrible in pretty much every way.  I'm getting pretty decent at marching though and I've been issued a brand new MIGA4 rifle so I will be the first to shoot that particular one in a couple weeks when we go up north.  The church here is awesome but it takes everything I got to make it to the next Sunday.  I found a chocolate milk dispenser thing at chow though so I think I will survive.  Is Bruno still around or has he killed over yet?  They say we're at the point where (I can not  figure out what this next word is, it looks like PT, but not sure)  PT gets harder but the rest of life starts getting easier.  We probably should have tied a rope in the shop so I could've learned to climb it, so far that's the only challenge I've failed in.  My body feels pretty torn up so I should be fairly beastly at the end of this.  Well, I got 2 weeks done with 11 more to go so I can't wait to be home.
Sincerely,
Nathanael
PS  If anybody wants to write me feel free to give out my address

First Real Letter From Nathanael

I will retype his letter so all can enjoy it.  Please write to him.  I put his address in the previous post.

To whom it may concern,
I am at boot camp and have been for a week now.  It is exactly how I thought it would be only with better food.  That only makes it harder to finish the meal though because you want to savor the taste.  Church here was really good yesterday and the highlight of the week.  My recieving DI looked a lot like Leondro Barbosa so that was cool.  They have a way to somehow make everything here very unenjoyable especially showers.  I got my wisdom tooth out today so I finally had time to write because it scored me a day of bed rest.  You probably won't get this for awhile though because I still can't send letters.  I really love it here, just kidding.  Can't wait for September 10.  Love Nathanael
PS.  Feel free to give my address to any that may wish to write me
PS  Please never send a package, only letters and pictures are acceptable.

NATHANAEL'S ADDRESS and letter

Just want to make sure everyone has Nathanael's address.  I am sure he would love all the letters that he can get.

Recruit Dees, Nathanael C.
1st RT BN CHARLIE CO. PLATOON 1049
40002 Midway Ave
San Diego, CA  92140-5550

Below is the letter we received from him yesterday.  It was a form  letter that he signed at the bottom. 

Dear Mom and Dad,
I have arrived at MCRD San Diego and have been placed in my training platoon.  I am fine and in good health.  While here at recruit training I am no allowed to receive certain items such as vitamins, alcohol, pornographic material, gambling devices, tobacco products, and combustibles.  Please do not send any packages (ie cookies, candy, socks, underwear, etc.).  Also prescription medication cannot be sent under any circumstance.  A medical officer authorized to treat recruits will provide all medication to me.  While here at Recruit Training I will not need you to send any money.  I earn enough to cover all expenses that will occur while going through day to day training here at MCRD San Diego.  I apologize that this letter is short but in the beginning we are somewhat pressed for time.  I promise to write later. 

You can reach me at the following address:

The adress is there and he signs on the line underneath.  I will keep you posted on letters that come.

FATHERS

I must start with my own father.  He is the most perfect man that I know.  He will be 87 in August and is in better shape than I am. 

Now I will add pictures of all the other wonderful fathers in my life, from the father of my children to my children that are fathers and I will not forget my father in law who has been gone for many years but not forgotten. 

VerLynn and Lori

Naris,  VerLynn's dad

Deryk, my oldest and now a father of 3

Spencer and Angie,  Spencer is now the father of 2 

Preston and his family.  He is obviously the father of 2

Then there are my two son in laws, this is Micah and his family.  He is the father of 6.

Trevor and his family and he is the father of 2.
I am so grateful for all of the fathers in my life.  I love all of you!