Corey Letter posted Nov 21

On pages torn out of a small spiral notebook (5 2x4 pages on both sides).

Dad,

I got your letter. Thank you very much. It was a very welcome surprise. I am ½ way through my final FTX (?). We did an urban assault yesterday. There was a small town with civilians and insurgence. 4 platoons were assigned to secure the town and capture the head terrorist.
Each platoon was broken into Alpha & Bravo squads (this was written teams in several places then crossed out). Alpha squads were to secure the outer buildings and handle civilians. Bravo squads were supposed to hold until the perimeter was secure and then clear a 3-story building and capture the leader. I was a bravo squad member. My team of 4 was the first Bravo unit to get to the objective building. We cleared all 3 floors killing two insurgents. When we reached the roof we wounded and captured the leader. We then formed up with a 2nd bravo team for added security and lead the terrorism out of the area.

The day before we did our 10K march. It was mostly hilly but not that bad. I did really well. I am looking forward to the 15K on Tuesday. After the 15K we do the night infiltration course. We do a ½ mile crawl through barbwire and obstacles with live rounds from M16’s (50 cals) and explosions going all around us. It will be a fun cumulation of all our training.

Unfortunately it looks like Angela won’t be able to come to graduation. She doesn’t have any one willing to baby sit for her. I really hope she can find someone but I don’t know who. It really sucks. I really want her to be here to see me graduate. If she doesn’t come when I graduate I won’t see her until the 19th of December when I get leave for exodus.

If she doesn’t have an apartment by then I don’t know where I will go. I don’t have a place to stay for Xmas. And I really don’t want to miss Xmas with the girls. I don’t know how we are going to work things out. I got to talk to Angela briefly on the phone yesterday. She said she wanted to get new rings and renew our vows.

I miss you a lot and I wish we could talk more. It would make being here a lot easier. I enjoyed reading in your last letter about your time in the Army. It gave me another perspective.
I hope everything is going well at home. Give Anita a hug for me and give Hobbs a scratch or two.

Your Son, Corey Rutherford

New piece of paper (US Army stationary)

Dad, Nov 20

I went to the PX and bought some new paper and envelopes. What do you think. I had a great day today. Well just start off saying I like combatives a lot more than you did.

Last night a group from anther plt come to scruff up one of our privates. I wouldn’t let them and that made them mad. Today I finished it in combatives. I made the cocky shit eat his words and bleed all over me, my uniform and the mat. Needless to say he doesn’t have a problem any more.

As a reward the drill Sgt. from his plt. Let me watch an ultimate fighting championship pay per view for 2 ½ hours. I guess I made an impression. I will better explain it later I need to get to bed.

I love You,
Corey Rutherford.

Observations by Richard

When I was in Basic each building called a Barrack housed a Company. This is how I remember the numbers there were 6-8 companies to a battalion. Each company had 2 Officers (a Company Commander and an Executive Officer). There were four or five Platoons. Each Platoon was made up of 4-5 squads of 8-10 soldiers. The platoon was all housed in a large room with 3x6 medal bunks stacked two high. Each soldier had a footlocker 2x2x3 at the end of the bunk and a standup locker 7x2x2. You bought combination locks for these. Weapons (ours were M14’s) were assigned but locked up in a gun rack near the platoon door. The floors were tile on concrete and became messy very quickly if you can imagine 40+ young men who had seldom previously had to clean up after them selves. We had a mixture of regular Army (in for 3-4 years), draftees (in for 2 years) and National Guard (in for 6-8 months – then 8 years of weekend meetings).

My platoon Sgt. was a 5’ tall bundle of energy. I think he had false teeth because he talked funny and they just seemed to big for his mouth. For a short guy he did this funny thing. He lined up everyone by height and picked the tallest guy for platoon leader. The next 4 tallest were made squad leaders. I was a squad leader. I don’t remember to clearly all of the guys in my squad. There was Shanks (everyone is called by their last name). Shanks was a 6 foot black kid from LA who was a jazz drummer. There was Righthand a Native American. There was a small Mexican from LA who always called me "Lumpy" after some character from "Leave it to Beaver". I hadn’t ever watched "Beaver" and didn’t relate. The last one I remember was a short roly-poly Jewish kid who struggled mightily to do the physical things. The rest have faded from memory.

Days started early and we were busy for about 10-12 hours a day. When you were not doing directed activities there were always Shoes, Boots, & Brass to polish and weapons & barracks to clean. You had to stand watch a couple of times a week and had KP every couple of weeks. KP started at 4 am and ran to 9-10 pm with short rests only when you sat down to eat. You were allowed 15 minutes to eat before they opened the doors for everyone else to eat. Most of the activity was physical but there was a lot of waiting. You would double-time every where and then stand at parade rest and wait to get your turn in a classroom or onto a PT course. After a short time you felt like you could double-time (slow run in step) all day.

Comments

I have changed the Blog to allow comments from members of the Blog. We were getting people placing their advertisements on the Blog as comments. There are automated programs that search the web and find available places to put their messages. I think this will stop them; until the next generation comes along. If anyone wants to comment and is not a member please send me the comment or a request to join the blog. rlrutherford@triconet.org

Richard

Corey Older Letter

I just got this yesterday post marked 11/18

Note on the back "This is an older letter I never finished."

Dad Oct 25

Thank you so much for your letter. I was having a not so good day today and it helped to cheer me up considerably. I am glad you put the letter on the Blog. Also tell aunt Mary it made me feel very special that she responded to my letter. Any communication from the outside is always welcome and an answer to prayers. If anyone is interested please forward on my address to them. Being in Boot Camp has raised my interest I my other family members military experiences. I would love to hear about them.

I figured coming to graduation might be hard for you. If you can arrange it, I would be very proud if you came. If not I understand.

We just finished our second day of firing live rounds.

Next page

Dad,

How is everything going? Things are going well here. I just passed my final PT test. All I have left is a 10K march, my final FTX, and a 15K march followed by the night infriltratiuon course.

I love you, Corey Rutherford

I need some stamps and envelopes.

Meaningless Comments

I don't know if anyone has noticed but we are getting comments from others wishing to advertise their web sites. I have been deleting them. I may change the way comments work so you must belong to the Blog to comment if it continues.

Corey Letter Dated Nov 6th

Dad, Nov 6th

Here is a photo of me. It is from reception so I have lost a lot of weight since then and look Healthier. I am sorry I haven’t written sooner. I have a half-written letter I am still working on but I have very little time.

Tell Aunt Mary thank you for her support it is greatly appreciated. Tell everyone to keep me in their prayers. I have 26 more days. I passed my BRM (basic Rifle Marksmanship). All I have left to Complete is my final PT test and a 15 K Road march after our final FTX (field training exercise) we are finally getting to the fun training.

If anyone wants to write me please give them the address any and all letters are appreciated. They help renew my spirit and help me carry on. Your last letter meant a lot to me. Feel free to write whatever whenever. I love you and miss you.

Your Son,
Corey Rutherford

Note from Aunt Gladys

Dick & Anita - 31 Oct 05

I am so happy that your plans jelled with ours. It was good to see you – and for you to get to know Ed & Marilyn better. Both of my "youngns" felt as if we had all been close all our lives. Guess that is what blood relatives means. Your Mom & I were a lot alike in a lot of ways – but enough different to make life interesting. Here is a short story you may have heard. Before we had our 1st car – a 1925 Essex, your Mon would have been ~10. She drove our horse & buggy the 1 ½ miles to town alone to buy a couple of groceries – only to find she was short (my memory of the story was 8 cents; Martha remembered 23 cents) out of a probable total due of less than $2.00. She very politely asked George (The grocer) for a blank check & then wrote it for the balance. We always paid cash for groc. George could hardly wait for Mom & Dad to come in to tell them this great story. He held the check for them. What a responsible child Martha was! I’ll think of more later.
Love – Aunt Gladys

We don't have a lawn but there's Blue Grass in Tucson

Last year I wrote about Anita & I going to Nogales in Mexico for our anniversary (also her birthday). This year during the week before our anniversary I had to go to Detroit, MI to teach a class. I got home late on Wednesday night and spent most of Thursday and Friday getting caught up on work that I was doing for a client in Virginia. Friday during the day Anita took a class in making patterns for sewing pants and I had my self buried in the computer until about 3 p.m. when I jumped up headed out to find a few small gifts for the next day.

Friday night we went to the musical "Annie" put on by a traveling group. We have season tickets to Broadway in Tucson. It was one of the best of the plays we’ve seen in the last couple of years. I came out humming and singing one of the major songs. We had tickets for Saturday night but since we had plans for all day Saturday and Sunday we traded our tickets in for something on Friday night. Some how we ended up with tickets in the first row so for the first time Anita didn’t have someone in front of her that she had to peek around. The conductor was about 10 feet away to our right. The orchestra pit wall was at our feet. The edge of the stage was about 15 feet in front, and at intermission I could stand and watch all the happenings in the orchestra pit as well as check out all of the people and what they were wearing. Dress up in Tucson means your wear socks with your sandals and long pants (no shorts). In Tucson the usual attire is shorts and sandals year around.

We usually skip dinner before the play, maybe stop a Starbucks on the way so we won’t be too hungry, and then we go out for dinner or dessert after the play. One time we went to the Truck Stop on the way home. Not many places are open that late. Another time we stopped at a Waffle House sort of low end 24 hour breakfast franchises that are all over the south and south west. They serve grits with your eggs and have a hundred ways to fix hash browns.

We had just read about a new dessert place that was open till 2 am so we tried that. I had milk and a chocolate mousse and Anita had the carrot cake. It was very good and we will probably go back. It was close to 1 am before we were home and in bed.

We slept in the next morning which means getting up somewhere between 8 and 9. We have several chores in the morning. Mine include walking the dog, emptying the dishwasher, feeding the animals, and checking my e-mail and reading the NY Times on line addition. Anita’s include opening the drapes, walking the dog with me, making the coffee, feeding the animals with me, picking the cat boxes, feeding the birds, etc.

At around noon we left to go to the Tucson Blue Grass Festival. It is a two-day event going on both Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5:30pm. We found it in the newspaper last year and went the first day in the afternoon and had such a good time we went back the next day and ended up buying several CD’s.

The format of the festival is simple they have 8-10 groups that are brought in to play. Each group has their scheduled times and they perform for about 40 minutes after about a 5-minute setup. Some of the groups are local but most are from places like Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Colorado, California, etc. This is acoustic music i.e. not electronic. The stage is not cluttered with amplifiers although there is a microphone for each singer and instrument. Most groups are 4-5 people (bass, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo) all stringed instruments and there is some great picking and singing. Many of the songs are standards but members of the band write many. Voices are pitched to the high end of their range and there is a lot of harmony. Most groups have a few Gospel numbers as well as lost love and traveling songs. There are also just instrumentals. It is closer to western than popular music and connects with many of the songs I heard on the radio as a child. Bluegrass has roots in the Celtic music that came over and evolved in the Kentucky & Tennessee hills. Anita says we must have some connection in our DNA if we have Celtic ancestors.

Last year the festival was at the fair grounds and we took chairs and setup on the grass. This year it was in the courtyard of an Indian gambling casino. The first day there was a scheduled boxing match at the attached auditorium. During the last half-hour of music the toughest group of people swaggered passed us lining up to get into the fight. Many young men passed that were 5’ 6" to 6’ and weighing an extra 50-100 lbs. for their height but no fat. I wouldn’t have wanted to mess with them or the young ladies that were with them.

The crowd both days was generally older. The majority in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. A few in their 40s & 50s, almost zero under 40. There were many cowboy hats and boots. We hadn’t had lunch so when the last group come on and wasn’t very good we decided to try the food in the casino buffet. The food was very good and as usual at buffets I had to try many things and left very full. Then Anita took $20 and went to play the slot machines. I just wandered around and watched people. I don’t get much enjoyment out of gambling, but I am an incurable people watcher. Anita blew the $20 in less than an hour and we were on our way home.

We returned the next day at around noon and found seats in the shade. There were two groups we really liked and they were up as soon as we got there and then there was a family group from Chandler, AZ. The lead singers for the family were girls 9 & 13 and their voices would need to grow on you. The mother was on the bass and had a 6-month-old in a Gerry Carry on her chest. It was interesting but jarring. We went inside and got a sandwich and fries. When we returned a group with women lead singers (this is rare) was up and we settled in for the rest of the day.

The group from eastern Tennessee played around 4 p.m. then exited for their van so they could drive home. Most of these people have full-time other jobs and play the music because they love it. Few actually make a living even playing festivals, clubs, and selling CD’s. Finally as the sun was setting the last group finished. As we drove home we were talking about possibly going to the up-coming festivals in Wickenburg, AZ and Bullhead City. At least they wait until the cooler time of year in Arizona.

I think I gained 5 pounds.