My son's name is PFC Gutierrez, Anthony, he is stationed at Twenty
Nine Palms, CA. 1st TK BN. He graduated out of MCRD at San Diego, CA. (Platoon
1063) in early 1999 and went to Fort Knox, KY. for his tank training in
late 1999. I have had the honor of visiting all 3 places with my
son.
He is 18 years old and is going into his second year as a U.S. Marine.
He is the 1st Marine in our family.
He was honored last year at the Fort Knox Marine Ball for
being the youngest marine and he had the opportunity to "cut the cake"
with the oldest Marine.
He also had the honor of eating breakfast with the General at MCRD
for being chosen "Most Improved" out of his platoon.
He enlisted when he was 17 years and for this I am very proud of
him for accomplishing so much in a short period of time at such a young
age.
He was in ROTC his freshman year of highschool and then later went
to Lincoln's Challenge, a Military Based school in Rantoul, IL.(Old airforce
base). He earned his highschool diploma and a two yr.scholarship.
He always had the desire to be in the military, he enjoyed watching
MASH and other old war movies but didn't realized the reality of it until
after inlisting. He phoned home after several weeks of Bootcamp to tell
me he thought he made a mistake..... I supported and encouraged him and
he made it through once again....at that point I think his options were
slim.
The military structure has helped him improve in all areas where
improvement was needed and will continue to.
There are certain people in the military who have really made a
positive difference in my son's life and for that I would like to say thank
you. He has learned to be proud of himself and for what he stands for,
most of all that "it's not just about him anymore", he stands united.
He is prepared to defend his country at any given moment.
The Military is not for every boy looking for some direction but as for Anthony, he has had the desire since he was a child and he knew that this was what he wanted to do.
For all the other mother's out there who have son's and daughters in the military I can only stress how important is that we continue to support them during this time and of course the fathers too and most important that we PRAY that our country can resolve matters with foreign countries before it leads to unnecessary combat.
I want everyone to know how very proud we are of Anthony!
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share this and please forgive me if I have misused any of the military terms, it is in no way meant disrespectfully...I'm still trying to learn the military language.
A Special thank you to SSgt. R. S. Sotelo
Senior Drill Instructor at MCRD, for the support you gave Anthony
during his training at MCRD in 1999. He spoke highly of you and you
really made a difference in his life!
Laura
Joliet, IL.