Postmarked 07/11/2009

AS I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH
I SHALL FEAR NO EVIL, FOR THOU ART WITH ME.

Sunday, July 5th. I head to The Crucible tomorrow and start it at 2:00 in the morning. 56 hours with little to no sleep and 3 MREs to barely satisfy my hunger. Hiking a total of 54 miles, hitting speed bumps all along the way, and finally climbing The Reaper. I look forward to it. Please keep me in your prayers.

The past week has been good. A recruit from our platoon, Recruit Coronado, failed the final PFT and had to retake it. Company Commander, Captain Montgomery walked into the squad bay and asked for a motivator to accompany Coronado on his PFT. The guide and squad leaders were gone, so a couple recruits stood up and said "Recruit Bertroche is a motivator, sir." Of course I didn't want to do the PFT again, but it was a good feeling to have the support of my brothers. I also went rappeling the other day off a 75 foot tower. The drill instructor told me to give him some enthusiasm so I screamed "OOHRAH!" and jumped off, falling all the way down til barely 4-5 feet from the ground and stopping myself. He shouted, "A little too much enthusiasm." It was good times.

Apparently I scared my parents with thoughts about marriage. Don't worry, I was barely serious, just scheming on how I can make more money, a typical Bertroche trait.

Last night was fantastic. We got to see fireworks from Sea World and Disneyland from our squad bay. It's nice to have a reminder that the real world is still alive and well, and I have something to look forward to when I get out of here.

On a side note, I attended the Protestant mass with a friend today. No offense to anyone of course, but I liked it more than most Catholic Masses I've attended. More singing and praising God and less automatic robot going through the motions. I hate cutting letters short, but a lot to to today to prepare for The Crucible. I don't know the next time I'll get to write, probably not till next Sunday, when I'm a Marine.

OORAH!
Patrick