The BootCamp Journals is a compliation of notes I wrote to my mother while I was in BootCamp (Great Lakes, IL) during the summer of 1995 and at Officer Candidate School, Pensacola during the winter of 1997. I'm posting this Journal for several reasons - first and foremost so that I can keep a lasting record of my experiences in the military.
Secondly, if you want to know where you're going, you've gotta know where you've been, correct? So I'm posting it all up here as an easy reference of what it was all like as the days go buy. During the days of BootCamp, I would keep a notepad in the back pocket of my dungarees, and I'd quickly jot stuff down whenever I ran across a feeling, image, or experience that I thought was worth holding onto - for whatever reason. Some things I wrote down were just to give my family back home an idea of what it was like. I've reviewed all the letters before posting them here - and let's face it, they're letters to my mother and some things should remain private and aren't any of your prying eye's business - so don't be mislead into thinking you'll be reading an unabridged version of my life's experiences. But you WILL be reading about what it was like, or just what happened to be bouncing around during MattLand's psyche on any given day.
A friend of mine wrote the other day, and she talked about how her memories of the time we spent together as a group in ATC school take up a huge chunk of her mind's available memories. Oddly enough, but the times of BootCamp and A school are the same for me - it seems like I lived more 'life' in that period of what probably only adds up to 7 months total than I have since then... at least when it comes to the memories that I have access to in my pounding skull. She said the whole experience left an odd aftertaste in her mind.... she's a better writer than I'll ever be.
A final reason for the BootCamp Journals?, because even though the early days of my career in the Navy take up most of my lifes memories, they'll fade one day. One day I'll get out of the military, and other memories will start to take the place of these. I've told my mother a million times that the thing I can't stand about being in the military is that you're always saying good-bye to someone, usually right after you've just met them or when you think you've finally found a friend. I've never been good at saying goodbye, and it ruins me everytime - to the point where I'm hesitant to meet people since I'm just going to have to say goodbye all over again! In true MattLand form, these journals help keep me from ever truly having to say adios, since they keep the memories of everyone and everything alive.
Angie, it's all dedicated to you.
Matty

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