Hi Folks, been a long time since I posted anything. My only excuse is I have been working incessantly trying to put together all the logistics for this DC trip for my Young Marines. There have been times when I have asked myself if I may have bit off more than I can chew. But hey, as Marines, don’t we always do that? LOL
We are up to twenty-four now, boys and girls, ages 8-18, average age is still 12 1/2. Have you ever tried teaching map & compass navigation to that wide of an age span? Whew! By the way, at our first boot camp in August 2016 one of our eight-year-old recruits brought a Teddy Bear with her, another girl, age 16 drove herself there. Things do get interesting. I have often wondered why the Young Marines went so far down to age 8; their attention span for anything is one Nano-second or shorter. LOL But they are a barrel of fun, and once you get their attention they are like sponges, they can’t absorb enough.
The D.C. trip is slowly coming together. There are some challenges we’re working on overcoming. One of which I thought would be easy, but has proven most difficult i.e., the Friday night parade at The Barracks. Realizing their reservation system does not open till 15 March, I was hoping I could somehow develop a contact so I could get some idea as to which Friday could I be guaranteed reservations. Simply put, that Friday would drive everything logistic wise. No dice. I even sent the CO a copy of my book with a letter asking for a POC; that was early December, so far, no response. So, I had to simply pick a date suitable for me and the kids so I could start working on everything else. The problem is I have been retired since October 1993, that was 25 years ago, the company grade officers with whom I served at SOI are colonels and retired. I know no one in the Corps anymore. Sad what happens to you when you get old and gray. LOL No one cares about your requests anymore. 
But I have to tell you, if I were in that CO’s shoes and rec’d a request such as mine, I would have immediately scribbled the sender a quick note of acknowledgement and gave the request to my OPSO, or better yet, my Protocol Officer and told him to make it happen. I don’t care how busy I was, it’s called taking care of your own. Oh well, so be it. I had to pick dates in the dark, so the plan is to arrive Tuesday 25 June and depart Sunday 30 June.
My real challenge is still financially. We have raised a little over $11,000, but with twenty-four kids now and several pending, we have a ratio requirement of 10-1 for supervisory personnel on such ventures. So, I am looking at about 30 for the trip. Of course, I will pay my own way, but some of my adult volunteers are from very low-income families and are many of my kids. I have decided once I have all the logistics worked out and am able to place some sort of a dollar figure on the full cost, and there is not enough for everyone to go, we are not going. I won’t be selective with the kids.
Anyway, I am sending out another SOS to everyone I can and am urging our parents to do the same. The unit has several fundraisers set up for the spring e.g., pizza night, spaghetti dinner, bingo, car washes, and of course many fundraisers in front of stores as we always do. So, the kids are really working hard for this; they are PUMPED!
Once again, the GoFundMe account is still alive should you desire to donate, or you can send a donation to me at 4303 East Drive, Crystal Lake, IL 60012 should you want to make it directly thus saving the small fee they charge. Our account is at: https://www.gofundme.com/manage/fox-valley-young-marines
Thanks everyone, and may God Bless you.
Semper Fi,
Jim
Originally posted 2019-01-25 12:11:27.
