Just a piece of a tidbit from my little corner of the globe.

I am very proud to announce that my cousin Curt, age 21, has opted to join the US ARMY. Of course, that also makes me quite anxious for him, indeed.

Our grandfather, Leonard Hubert WELLS, fought in the Battle of the Bulge - US Army 319th Infantry - with the 80th Division. He was from Tuttle, Oklahoma. He survived the war and took to heart, forever, the liberation of the concentration camps.

Please say a prayer for Curt. He was born in OK, and then moved to Georgia with his family. He returned to Oklahoma in 2004 at the age of 18. He turned 21 in March.

I am very humbled by his joining the military and equally proud of him to want to protect the freedom of our country.

May God always Bless our Soldiers and return them home, safely.

--Kathy

http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/data/542/medium/Curt_July_2007.jpg

Nice to know there are people out there actually born with a backbone

Still looking for mine...Think I lost it somewhere between standing in a rollercoaster line and getting out of it and walking back to watch the others actually go through with it :LolLolLol

Props to your cousin..It takes major cajones to join the military and especially in today's times

That's fantastic to hear, OkieKAS! I hope he makes it and serves with pride and honor. Tell him I'm proud 8-)

Send him this:
Murphy's Laws Of Combat
If the enemy is in range, so are you.
Incoming fire has the right of way.
Don't look conspicuous, it draws fire.
There is always a way.
The easy way is always mined.
Try to look unimportant, they may be low on ammo.
Professionals are predictable, it's the amateurs that are dangerous.
The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions: a. When you're ready for them. b. When you're not ready for them.
Teamwork is essential, it gives them someone else to shoot at.
If you can't remember, the claymore is pointed at you.
The enemy diversion you have been ignoring will be the main attack.
A "sucking chest wound" is natures way of telling you to slow down.
If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush.
Never draw fire, it irritates everyone around you.
Anything you do can get you shot, including nothing.
Make it tough enough for the enemy to get in and you won't be able to get out.
Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself.
If you are short of everything but the enemy, you are in a combat zone.
When you have secured an area, don't forget to tell the enemy.
Never forget that your weapon is made by the lowest bidder.
Friendly fire isn't.
If the sergeant can see you, so can the enemy.
Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can sleep.
The most dangerous thing in the world is a second lieutenant with a map and a compass.
A grenade with a seven second fuse will always burn down in four seconds.
Remember, a retreating enemy is probably just falling back and regrouping.
If at first you don't succeed call in an air-strike.
Exceptions prove the rule, and destroy the battle plan.
Everything always works in your HQ, everything always fails in the colonel's HQ.
The enemy never watches until you make a mistake.
One enemy soldier is never enough, but two is entirely too many.
A clean (and dry) set of BDU's is a magnet for mud and rain.
Whenever you have plenty of ammo, you never miss. Whenever you are low on ammo, you can't hit the broad side of a barn.
The more a weapon costs, the farther you will have to send it away to be repaired.
Field experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
Interchangeable parts aren't.
No matter which way you have to march, its always uphill.
If enough data is collected, a board of inquiry can prove ANYTHING.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. (in boot camp)
The one item you need is always in short supply.
The worse the weather, the more you are required to be out in it.
The complexity of a weapon is inversely proportional to the IQ of the weapon's operator.
Airstrikes always overshoot the target, artillery always falls short.
When reviewing the radio frequencies that you just wrote down, the most important ones are always illegible.
Those who hesitate under fire usually do not end up KIA or WIA.
The tough part about being an officer is that the troops don't know what they want, but they know for certain what they DON'T want.
To steal information from a person is called plagiarism. To steal information from the enemy is called gathering intelligence.
The weapon that usually jams when you need it the most is the M60.
The perfect officer for the job will transfer in the day after that billet is filled by someone else.
When you have sufficient supplies & ammo, the enemy takes 2 weeks to attack. When you are low on supplies & ammo the enemy decides to attack that night.
The newest and least experienced soldier will usually win the Congressional Medal Of Honor.
A Purple Heart just goes to prove that were you smart enough to think of a plan, stupid enough to try it, and lucky enough to survive.

Congrats Kas! Jedi beat me to the punch on Murphys Laws of combat, so I'll give you the advice my dad gave me 25 years ago. "Never be the first in line, make damn sure you're not LAST in line, keep your chin up and your head down and when the little voice in your head says duck, it ain't talkin' about waterfowl!"

Gosh guys......I am so overwhelmed, my pride is about to burst! I would have said heart but my cardiologist actually owns it.

Thanks for all of the support to Curt.

Thanks Jedi, I was trying to get some of those points across to him! LOL....I became so overwhelmed with pride and fear, not to mention all of the bawling, snot and tears..... that I just ended up hugging him and drew a protective shield around him and told him that I was lending him my Angel Les to watch over him.

Just like the man that he is, he looks at me and says "Thanks Kaf.....thanks for lending me Leslie. She always takes care of us"....and if that wasn't enough to burst this ole heart....he starts to walk away to begin his mission, he stops and turns around and says.....

"If I don't make it.....then I will give her a big hug and kiss from her Mommy"...........

...and he really meant it.

He is already a soldier in my heart.

Thanks for the support - everyone!

--OkieKAS

Kas,
As a Proud Army Mom to Sgt Olivia, I can understand both emotions. Please tell Curt congrats from us. The Murphy's Law of Combat is an excellent guide.

I might add the bit of advice I gave to Olivia 4 years ago when she enlisted:

Keep your a$$ down, your eyes open and NEVER volunteer for anything!

An Excellent Website for family support:

Proud Army Mom (http://groups.msn.com/ProudArmyMomsGOARMY)

(great for aunts, uncles, dads, etc too!)

Kas,
I served in the US Marines, till I retired,E9,was my seperation grade.
Speaking as someone who "looked out" for my guys, I also felt pride when I see them as my sons.
I have 2 sons myself
These years later I sit ,think of those I knew and yea love and respected.
You want to shield them,as you always done.
If you"did it right" they want to shield you and the country from those wh want to hurt us.
When we were in Kuwait the "last Gulf War", I saw one of my guys bend down and carried a little girl who was crying.
God bless Curt.
He's now Our son to pray for.
God bless you and yours.

Jedi,
Thanks for those Murphy Laws.
I gave those to my guys when they come to my Marine company.

Jedi,
Thanks for those Murphy Laws.
I gave those to my guys when they come to my Marine company.

So did I. Great minds think alike, eh?

I also used to throw a rubber brick at em. But that's a different story.:ridem:

Tell him to always take his own TP to the field. Doing it John Wayne's way with the stuff supplied in MRE's kinda sucks.


And damn...How many Leathernecks are on this forum anyway?

Thanks for all of the great information. Sorry to say that Curt failed to get into the ARMY.

He said that they told him he didn't pass the physical. He is quite physically fit with no problems that we are aware of. (??????)

I, along with his Grandmother, helped him get his GED when he came here from GA when he was 19, he completed it through Chickasha Public Schools. And I helped him to get his Driver's License, and he passed both the written and the driver's sections. He took the test in my Cherokee. His Mom just wouldn't let him ever get a license in GA.

He doesn't have any medical conditions that would physically or mentally impair him.

He does have one conviction for assault when he and his step-father got into a physical altercation and Mom bailed step out and left son in jail, in GA. (both were arrested, charged and convicted)

In lieu of him not having any known impairments, could this have been the reason he was denied?

Something else weird is going on, it seems.

Several of the soldiers in Lawton have come from choices of "Army or jail", so I doubt that his arrest and conviction would have done it, unless he was going into law enforcement.

Sounds like Curt is not getting the whole story, or maybe you aren't?

Sorry to hear, Okiekas - the Army might have been just what he needed.

Something else weird is going on, it seems.

Several of the soldiers in Lawton have come from choices of "Army or jail", so I doubt that his arrest and conviction would have done it, unless he was going into law enforcement.
Sounds like Curt is not getting the whole story, or maybe you aren't?

Sorry to hear, Okiekas - the Army might have been just what he needed.

Or anything that requires a security clearance.

Physically, they'll keep you out for all sorts of things...Like a heart-murmur, extra finger growing out of forhead, migraines, asthma, etc. There's really no telling, unless he tells you. They sure as heck don't just say "sorry, you're not physically qualified" and send you packing. They're very specific about why, and I'm sure they told him. Probably put it in writing actually.

Sorry to hear about it OkieKAS...That sucks :(

He is pretty outspoken and generally blurts out anything, sometimes unfortunately, to all of us!

We signed all the papers and gave them references and all. He has been around me for nearly 3 years now and I have never seen anything medical on him.

Also, his Grandma (my bestest friend and my Auntie) would have told me if anything had come up.

His Dad and Granny came in from GA to help him get all of his stuff together and took him to all of the appts and such. So they didn't know of any issue as to why he couldn't join up.

I am quite perplexed. He is quite disappointed.

Curt said that they told him that it "felt" like he had a slipped disc. (?????)

I just thought that with all of the psycho noise coming from them and such that they don't just allow everyone in, now, but then I just thought that was the Marines. haha

I dunno know. :::shrug::::