Werner Schmidt
Enterprise Networking and Security Expert

5,000 Square Feet of Heaven

For those that have been reading my blog, you know that our youngest son joined the U.S. Marine Corps a while ago now and went into boot camp this past summer. Since then he graduated that and went to Camp Pendleton for combat training. Every single Marine is trained as a rifleman. For those that feel the same way as an individual, you might want to checkout the Appleseed project for your older kids or yourself. We got to see our son and a couple of other Marines during Thanksgiving and a couple of liberties (on base, off base and restricted to one portion of base). Camp Pendleton is huge! One of the most relaxing liberties was the one restricted to one area on the base, specifically, we spent it all around one cement picnic table. Of course the boys enjoyed the KFC Chicken, donuts and drinks we brought. It was an outstanding day. As for our son, food, phone, newspaper and liberty, it doesn’t get much better than that, even while on base and especially away from the squad bay.

We were very blessed to be able to spend the time with him and his two other liberty buddies. In the midst of all that and his stay at Camp Pendleton, our son got rather sick and with much coercion (Marines and guy thing), we got him to see a doctor during his off base liberty. He was diagnosed with pneumonia, which put a damper on his activities during liberty. He was absolutely zonked and fatigued. He did have to travel to Pensacola Florida out of San Diego in the wee hours while still being quite sick. In that process, he checked out the local
USO at the San Diego Airport with some prodding. All I can say is that it was 5,000 square feet of heaven. We arrived later in the morning to see our son during his long airport wait. From the moment we pulled up to the curb to meet a spry, energetic, thankful senior volunteer with more life and zeal than most teenagers, it was an uplifting experience. The USO has been around for almost 70 years, perhaps you know of them from Bob Hope. Their goal, via thousands of volunteers, is to lift the spirits of America’s troops and their families. They did that and then some. Comfortable chairs, kitchen area, TV, children’s play area for the kids, Internet access and loving caring people. It was quiet and relaxing. I can’t begin to describe the blessing of setting off our son in the right spirits even while being dismally sick. On the other end in Florida, it also meant a shuttle ride to the base. We’re members of the USO, it’s a non-profit and non-political organization. Please check them out. I know of at least one of our customers personally involved with this superb organization.