A Letter from Patrick

I got a letter today from Patrick that gives a great picture of how he's doing and what his days look like. The following are excerpts from the letter.


"It's been a pretty good day today. Other than the rain, the weather was relatively warm and it cleared up in the afternoon. This morning we rucked about 1 1/2 miles out to do the team building exercises. It was a lot of fun...Our platoon has bonded really well, which helps us to more easily accomplish tasks. I'm in the 1st squad and would like to become squad leader or hopefully platoon guide as BCT continues.

"I got selected to march in a special ceremony next week for the changing of the command...We are finally starting to look, act, think, and feel like real soldiers. A lot of guys are counting down the days to graduation. I'm just focusing on Red Phase right now; specifically getting through the phase tests...

"I finally got your [and other people's] letters today. It was extremely encouraging...The reason that it is good to hear about daily tasks is because it reminds me of where I've come from. To tell you the truth, until yesterday I had kind of forgotten about what a normal day in civilian life looks like. We've kind of been in a weird black hole where you begin to think in your subconscious that you've always been here.  I would liken it to the people of the underworld in The Silver Chair [by C.S. Lewis].

"I was glad to hear that a lot of people have stayed in contact with you while I've been gone. Thanks for the quotes from Eisenhower and the passage from Exodus. They were really encouraging. I'm working hard to be really sociable without compromising my values. This environment can make that very tricky sometimes..."

"So here's some information about Ft. Leonard Wood. It's huge! Imagine the campus of UA times 20 or more. I still haven't seen all of the parts of the base, and I probably won't because I'll only be here for training. But some of the cool things about the base is seeing black hawks fly over and armored convoys from time to time. There's always a company marching around. The Marine Corps [Military Police] school is also here, which makes me laugh because it only more solidifies for me that the Army is better...

"We got our [Interbalistic Body Armor and Army Combat Helmet] last week. It felt really awesome when I first put both of them on. I was able to spiritually connect with the centuries of warriors that have come before me. I was immediately ready to rock and roll.

"Please pray for me that my leadership skills would grow and that I would grow... so that I would feel more comfortable taking initiative in my platoon...Pray that I win the hearts and minds of my [Drill Sergeants] and my platoon and that I would look for opportunities to lead."