21 Aug 09

Dear Mom,

Gah, so today we did the gas chamber today. I thought it was kinda funny with everything. It kinda burned your exposed skin when you had your mask on especially if there was moisture on your skin. So of course with this f-ing Georgia weather I was sweating and it was pouring down my neck which was exposed and yeah that part pretty much felt like the hot part of Ben gay or Icy Hot. Then we had to pull the mask 2 inches away from our face and say our last name and the last four of our social. That wasn’t bad at all if you know how to clear and seal your mask, which I knew how to do. But after everyone did that they put more CS gas in there and then we had to take our masks off. Put our Kevlar helmets on, hold our gas mask in our left hand while grabbing onto the person in front of us then holding our rifle in our right hand plus some other things and yeah if you got anything wrong you had to got through again. One dude had to go through four times. People were crying and snot was dangling long from peoples faces. A few puked and there were some Drama Queens too. Me I did fine. Shoot I actually volunteered to go in again without a mask and I had to walk two laps around the whole building then I got to go out. They had people taking pictures and video and stuff for the yearbook and other items you can buy for memory that I have no want for. There is one thing I am getting but that is for you. All in all it was kinda fun for me. People kept saying that I was crazy or I had some balls. In the pics and video I was just smiling and laughing. Hooting and hollering. Everyone else was just all sorts of messed up. It was truly diabolical was how I described it. Ha ha. When you tell Shari to tell Darrin Happy B-day for me. Its on the 22nd so you might get this a little late. But it’s the thought that counts right? He he But other that that I think we have combatives tomorrow but I dk exactly what we are doing for that. Like I think the DS is gonna try to punch us or something. Either that or we gotta take on one other person and try to make them tap out. Something. Who knows. Everything here and pretty much in the army is as good as a guess. That and it changes all the time. So there is these two dudes here that got bit by a brown recluse spider. I dk if that’s how it is spelled but pretty much it rots the skin around the bite. And apparently you can’t feel it bite you. But now these dudes got holes now. They had to get the rotted skin cut out. Seriously the bugs here in Georgia are ridicules. They are either really huge ore they do something really weird. The cockroaches in the barrack suck. But then again just about everything does. I got put in the Alpha running group which is the fastest. When we ran our first timed mile I ran it in 7:00 flat. Which was kinda surprising to me. I thought I was still outta shape. I’m still tired all the time though. I can’t seem to get over it. I accidentally washed my wallet the other day. Kinda sucks. I had my social security card in there. I know it’s probably just cuz we have been in these barracks for a while but I am starting to get more irritated by people. It’s mainly cuz they are doing stupid ass shit. I don’t really like half of my platoon. All they do is bitch and moan and complain. Sometimes they think they know everything and when someone call someone out for something. They gotta get all tough and pretty much start dick measuring. Per say. I still try and ust worry about myself. I have like one person that I kinda hang out with. He is the other Smith in the platoon. But other then that. I dk I hate this shit. I can’t wait for this shit to be over with. I’m starting to lose my voice already. It sucks, I hope I get to call you on Sunday. That would be so nice. How are all the dogs and Fritz? J I miss coming over and playing with them all. Has anyone sent any mail to your place to send to me yet? You remembered to put your address on my profile didn’t you? I hope so. I feel so lonely here without getting any letters. I know that it is gonna take them a while to get to me but I would still like some. Ha-ha. Well now I’m starting on Week 2 finally. The theory I have is that the days go by slow but the weeks go by fast. Did you ever make a decision on if you wanted to come down or not? I just wanna know ahead of time. So pretty much Dickson lied about a lot of things to me. Which is kinda what recruiters do but maybe he just didn’t know. Who knows. I still remember the ride to the airport from the hotel. I remember just about everything from our last day. Especially how bad we had to pee that day. He he. That was a lot of fun. I miss you mommy. I don’t like being homesick. Sometimes I wonder why I ever left. But then I remember things weren’t always that great. But I still kinda miss it. Maybe that’s because it was what I was used to. I just hope that this whole thing works out for the better and not for the worse. I would hate having to regret the whole thing. I dk. But other than that, everything is okay I guess. A lot of people are sick here and I’m sure it’s gonna spread to me and shit. I already got a sore throat when I wake up in the morning. It kinda goes away as the day wears on. So how many puppies do ya got sold so far? Hopefully that’s going good for you. So is it nice having time off and shit not having to work at Home Depot? I’m sure the extra sleep is very nice. Well I’m gonna go but I can’t wait to get some news from you. Any hopefully other people write too.

Love ya,
Jeremiah

RECEIVED AUGUST 26th 2009