Yesterday at precisely 1:45 p.m., David left for an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn near the Des Moines airport. I'm not sure why they insist on having all recruits stay overnight; I guess it's to prevent any going away parties that would impair the young men from getting up at the ungodly hour of 4 a.m. We were allowed to take David out for dinner, so we enjoyed a leisurely dinner at Bennigan's and actually took him back home for a couple of hours of visiting before he had to be back, lights out by 10 p.m.
This morning an unexpected snowfall made for a slow drive to the MEPS at Camp Dodge, where I spent most of the morning waiting, and waiting some more. I was able to see David for brief moments between the various tasks he was required to do in order to finalize his enlistment process.
For the second time, David took the U.S. Military Oath of Enlistment. As the officer stated in this video, "This is the big one!"
Families were allowed a very brief time with their newly enlisted recruits, after which the boys had lunch together. David made small talk with five other marine recruits who would travel together to San Diego. The boys were then taken into a room where they were briefed about their travel, and given papers that they needed to carry along.
Finally, they filed out, grabbed their coats and the few belongs they were allowed, and loaded the van to the airport. But before he got on the van he turned, hugged me, and said, "I love you, Mom." Then then next thing I knew, they were driving away.
88 days until I see him again.
