Marine Corps News Room

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2007/02/21/front/181340.txt

By MOLLY LINN

Wednesday February 21 2007

For Sgt. Marina Lopez and Sgt. Chris Williams, their audience was vastly different than the recruits they're accustomed to, but equally attentive -- parents of future Marines.

The two drill instructors, along with recruitment officers, answered parents' questions during a family night at American Legion Post 83 sponsored by Recruiting Station Detroit and attended by future Marines and their family members from all over Northwestern Ohio.

The event brought recruiters, future marines and their families and two drill instructors from Parris Island, S.C., to the dinner table to discuss their sons and daughters entry into the Marine Corps family.

Major Ralph J. Rizzo Jr., of Recruiting Station Detroit, addressed parents, girlfriends, boyfriends and family members at the hall, explaining the evening was all about laying to rest some of the myths associated with the island.

"There are so many preconceived notions," he said. "This event is designed to put fears and concerns of future Marines family's to rest."

It is also one of the first opportunities proud parents have to take part in their son or daughter's transformation into being a Marine, explained Sgt. Major Scott A. Van De Ven, also of Recruiting Station Detroit.

"This is an opportunity for a future Marines' families to get together," he said. "Sometimes parents feel alone and don't know other parents out there that share the experience of having a child becoming a Marine in common."

"We open our family up (the Marine Corps family) to the recruits' family. Once you are a Marine, your family is touched by the lifestyle of the Corps," Rizzo said.

The evening was all about questions. Difficult, detailed and specific questions were asked of the drill instructors and Van De Ven by very demanding parents.

Zizzo said the difficult questions parents often ask about the severity and extremes of training are answered in an honest, upfront manor.

And the those questions certainly weren't easy for the drill instructors Tuesday night. "Will you get in my son's face? Just how bad is this going to get?" one parent asked.

She was addressed in customary Marine Corps fashion, "Ma'am a drill instructor will close ground on a recruit who is standing out," Van De Ven said.

Lopez explained a recruit's time on Parris Island is "controlled chaos."

"Recruits will be stressed and put in positions of uncertainty," she said.

One of the most stressful trials of a recruit's training experience is known as the Crucible, a 54-hour training exercise putting all knowledge gained in the previous weeks of training to the test.

During the Crucible, recruits must ration 21/2 meals ready to eat during the duration of the exercise. Little sleep takes place during the event.

The experience isn't easy, Rizzo said. "The reward at the end far outweighs the road you took to get there," he said, explaining the difficulty of boot camp.

Parents had the opportunity to ask questions about what can be mailed to recruits, how recruits purchase items needed while at Parris Island, graduation details and when to expect phone calls from recruits during their training.

Everything from the day recruits place their feet on the yellow footprints on the Island to when they are free to return home following graduation was covered.

The three phases of recruit training were explained day-by-day to allow parents to understand what their child would be experiencing during training -- right down to the sound of the phone ringing when their son or daughter calls from Parris Island to say they have arrived.

When a Marine's answer didn't satisfy a concerned parent, a Marine Corps mother seeing her third son off to Parris Island this summer stepped up and took the concerned mom under her wing.

"We start Marine Corps, we finish Marine Corps," Laura Vazquez, the mother of future Marine Dean Matter, told the nervous mom. Vazquez shared her experience and contact information with the mom to insure future questions were answered.

For future Marine Jackie Spicer, 18, of Norwalk, the event was an opportunity for her parents to learn more about her experience first-hand and have questions they can't ask their daughter answered. Spicer will leave for Parris Island in early September.

Future Marines Adam Fitzpatrick, 17, and Chris Howard, 17, of Sandusky leave this summer for boot camp and both their families were in attendance.

Howard's parents asked about whether or not they should send postage stamps with their son who's joining the Marine Corps to get ahead in life and have the experience in the future when he pursues a career in law enforcement.

Answers to questions as simple as those can put a parents minds at ease, Van De Ven said.