Kid Sends Letter Home To Parents After Joining The Marines, This Is Priceless!

A Farm Kid Joins the Marines
Dear Ma and Pa:

I am well. I hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was initially restless since you got to stay in bed until nearly 6 a.m. But as I get older, I like to sleep later. Tell Walt and Elmer that the only thing you do before breakfast is smooth your crib and polish a few items. There are no hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, or fire to build. Absolutely nothing.

Men have to shave, but it’s not too awful because there’s warm water. Breakfast is heavy on trimmings such as fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, and so on, but light on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie, and other normal fare. But tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit beside the two city lads who live on coffee. Their food, combined with yours, holds
We go on “route marches,” which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it’s not my place to tell him different. A “route march” is about as far as our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet, and we all ride back in trucks.

The sergeant is similar to a teacher. He constantly nags. The captain is analogous to the school board. Majors and colonels simply ride about frowning. They don’t disturb you at all.

Walt and Elmer will die laughing at what comes next. I keep earning shooting medals. I’m not sure why. The bulls-eye is about the size of a chipmunk’s head, doesn’t move, and isn’t shooting at you like the Higgett guys at home. All you have to do is lie down comfortably and whack it. You even don’t load your own cartridges. They are packaged in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with the city boys. I have to be really careful, though; they break really easily. It ain’t like fighting with that old bull at home. I’m about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake . I only beat him once. He joined up at the same time as me, but I’m only 5’6″ and 130 pounds, and he’s 6’8″ and near 300 pounds dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,
Alice

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