Daily Life of a Marine Mom

I got some information from Alien Hunter that totally blew my mind.   Do you know that if a soldier is injured bad enough that he can't fight anymore they take his sign-up bonus from him?!?!?   This fact is just so wrong on so many levels I can't begin to comprehend it.   I will just post a link to the info that he added in a comment here:

Alien Hunter's comment:
One link to the bonus fiasco is http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jan/21/military-signing-bonus-squabble/ . I also have 2 nephews serving - 1 active duty Army, 1 TX Army National Guard - both tell me the same about bonuses. It is a regulation that if a soldier is unable to complete his/her enlistment and has a bonus that the bonus for the unserved enlistment portion must be repaid. It doesn't matter if the reason is due to injury or death. Two other sources I use are http://militarynews.com/ and http://www.dav.org/ .  I also use Army, Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force Times papers for source material.

Mr_Sandman has been fighting for years to get his disability. He has hired a lawyer to help him.  Two tours in Iraq and a case of PTSD.  http://mrsandman782000.spaces.live.com

I didn't mean to carry on so long - some things just get to me. I never thought that I would be so politically active in writing congresspeople either.

If you want to help check your state's website (for Indiana its http://www.in.gov) for a list of your congressmen/women and write them protesting this practice.  

Eric/Patty/Nathaniel update:

One of the reasons I am so appalled by the information that I posted above is because I know for a fact how Eric and Patty are struggling from paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet.   So I can see any military personnel that gets a bonus using it to pay the bills that add up insurmountably while a married couple is just trying to survive.    To have to pay back your bonus under those circumstances would be almost unbelievably hard if not impossible for them.   I know the kids are doing without sometimes and I also know that if they ask me for help I will certainly try to help although I struggle under the same circumstances to pay my own bills.   It's part of the reason I am glad to have Eric, Patty and Nathaniel staying with me for a few months when they get out of the Marine Corps.   I hope in that time to be able to buy the house I am now living in which will help a lot (my house payments will be considerably lower than rent - plus I will be building equity).    We are all struggling in this economy but through hard work and perhaps - sharing your living expenses with other members of family - we can make it.   Eric plans on using his education bonus when he gets here to attend college (night school for electronic engineering) while he is working so hopefully things will get better for them out in the real world and away from the hardships of trying to live on a military paycheck.  Enough of that though.

Patty's friends on base held a baby shower for her recently.   And she sent me pics of it and Eric was there!   So here is the newest pic I have of both of them together.

That's for everyone that asked me where the pics of the new dad-to-be were!  Looks like they had fun.   Patty sent me a pic too of Eric drinking out of a baby bottle (one of the games) but I'll be nice and not post it here haha!   If you look close you can see that Eric has a black eye.   The night before the baby shower one of his Marine friends got very drunk and belligerent.  Eric was worried that he [the drunk friend] might hurt the person he was arguing with so he stepped in between his friend and the rest of the people there to try to calm him down and got punched four times!  Not one to be deterred he just held onto his friend until he calmed down.   Tough guy - I can't tell you how many times I have heard or seen him break up fights.   I guess being as big as he is makes him a good negotiator.   I'm so glad his size didn't make him want to start fights like so many of his brother Marines like to do!  Oh well - like the saying goes "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."   That's a Marine for you, they work hard, fight hard - and party hard.

Semper Fidelis and God bless you all.   

So ... this weekend marks a huge milestone in my life.   I have actually joined the ranks of people that have spent more than a half century on this earth.   Yes that's right, Marine Mom is officially the big 5 - 0.   To tell the truth I don't feel like I have been dragging this poor old body around for that long.   I feel better than I did in my twenties save for the inevitable half hour in the morning before that first cup of coffee hits my veins!   All in all I am satisfied and happy with my life.   Like us all - I have made mistakes and suffered the effects of misjudging people around me at times but after all, no one is perfect and I have found in my heart to forgive those that hurt me.  Hopefully I have learned from those mistakes and won't make the same ones twice!   My one true shortcoming is that I enjoy spending too much time alone.   I resolve on this day to start trying to spend more time with friends and family.   Too much solitude can be wearing on the soul.   That's one reason I am glad that Eric and Patty and little Nate (when he is born) will be staying with me when they come back home at the end of Eric's stint in the Marine Corps.   Only a few more months and my house will be full again.   I am looking forward to it.  

I do still have some work to do on my psyche but overall I truly am happy with my life.   I have great kids who all have wonderful marriages and are making it in life well enough and who - if they work hard - will leave their mark on the world around them.   What more can you ask out of life?   My one goal left (at the moment) is to actually become a writer but I still have time for that.   After all, you actually have to write to do that and lately my desire to do so has been sorely diminished for one reason or another.   But my creativity has always gone through spells of inactivity.   It will be back.

I got a very apt email from a friend today that I think sums up the things I have learned in fifty years of life quite eloquently.   Here it is:

The Most Beautiful Rainbow
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that
wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You
will have your heart broken probably more than once and
it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so
remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight
with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things
an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast,
and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too
many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never
been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset
is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. Don't be
afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

Live simply. Love generously.
Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.

On to news from the homefront:  Patty sent me the last ultrasound (it was done May 7th so he is a lot bigger now) of Nathaniel Clayton finally!   And a new picture of her sideways LOL.   She is so beautiful.  Pregnancy suits her well.    The ultrasound photo I am showing here has little Nate showing them that he definitely is a boy haha!   His legs are spread and he appears to either be pointing at his stuff or - maybe trying to grab it?  HAHA - Patty says he is definitely his father's son.

 
Nathaniel and his mama in all their glory.   We are so blessed.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Got an ABATE function some friends and I are going to this weekend myself so hopefully it will go well!

Semper Fi and God bless you all.

Soldiers risk ruin while awaiting benefit checks - Military- msnbc.com

Its a sad sad day when we don't even take care of our own.   This particular article represents that fact in shocking extreme.   It starts with the story of Isaac Stevens, an Army private first-class, 3rd Infantry Division, 11 Bravo Company and what happened after an accident in the military left him permanently disabled.  Here's an expert -

The injury alone didn't put him in a homeless shelter. Instead, it was military bureaucracy — specifically, the way injured soldiers are discharged on just a fraction of their salary and then forced to wait six to nine months, and sometimes even more than a year, before their full disability payments begin to flow...

Click the link above to read the whole article from MSNBC.com.

Semper Fi and God bless all of our military men and women - and you.

I want to say that I certainly hope all of you special fathers out there had a wonderful day yesterday.  I am truly sorry that I didn't post this before now to let you know that I respect and appreciate every good father out there!   This is the second Father's Day that we have spent without the loving presence of my own father whom we lost to cancer in December of 2006.   Therefore I tend to let Father's Day slide away without mention because it still hurts when I stop and remember that he is no longer with us.   What with my youngest son about to become a father for the first time I guess that I should no longer try to ignore that day when I can now honor my son's accomplishments in being a good dad.   That said - I want to repost the poem that I wrote (and read) at my own father's funeral in 2006 in honor of him.    The loss is still great, we love and miss him.

My father, my friend

If you are lucky in your life,
You will meet a simple man,
Who will stand with you at your lowest point
And lend you his helping hand.

A man who loves his family
And shows it in every way
He's there for all the little things
His devotion takes your fears away

A man who believes in honesty
And places it above most everything
He would not accept anything less
From those that mean the most to him.

A man who is there when you need him
Who stands willingly by your side
Or holds you in his arms of strength
When you must break down and cry.

Who comforts children when they're sad
Sings them a powerful little song
And the sound of his strong voice
Eases their tears before too long.

A man who loves so many things,
His family and all his friends,
Even the dog always by his side
Both are loyal to the end.

I was so blessed in my life
To have known just such a simple man
Who held me tight the day I was born
And said "Welcome home, my newest friend."

Now I know that he is standing,
With another giving, simple man.
Both waiting to one day hold me tight
And say, "Welcome home now, my dear friend."

written by Tami, in honor of my father, who went