Well guys, i've been talking about it on here for a while now and as most of you know I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. THIS Monday (January 8th) I am being picked up at 4:30 AM and will be getting on a plane to Parris Island in South Carolina where I will endure 13 weeks of Marine Corps boot camp and come April will hopefully have fulfilled my lifelong dream of becoming a United States Marine. Once I graduate from boot camp I will come home for 10 days of leave and then report to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC where I will attend the School of Infantry for 2.5 months. Upon graduating from the School of Infantry I will receive orders to join a unit at either Camp Lejeune (NC), Camp Pendleton (California), or Okinawa. Regardless of where I end up, the odds are I will be joining a unit scheduled for a deployment to Iraq. I am enlisting as infantry, I have no desire whatsoever to learn a trade, get money for college, get an enlistment bonus, or anything else, I already have all of those things, I simply want to be a Marine and I want to serve my country and you can't put a dollar amount on the intangibles which go along with being a US Marine.

 

For the 3 months that I will be in boot camp, I will have no access to internet or phones and my only communication with the outside world will be old fashioned mail call once a week, so I regretfully must say that will mean the end of my time on MarlinsBaseball. When I graduate and come home on my 10 days of leave I will be so busy I will probably not even have a chance to turn on my computer, and then i'm off to SOI for 2.5 months. Once I hit my final duty station (Lejeune, Pendleton, Oki) and join a unit in the fleet after I graduate from SOI then I will have weekends off unless we're in the field, in a workup to a deployment, or are deployed. My parents are going to be cutting out any Marlins related news clippings from the Miami Herald so I will be able to keep up to date with the Marlins while i'm in boot camp.

 

For the next 6 months I will basically have no access to the internet and the little free time I do receive after boot camp won't be spent online. I get 30 days of leave a year and you can bet your ass i'll be planning those days around Marlins games . My 10 days of leave after bootcamp is going to be from April 7th to the 17th, so I hope to go to a couple Marlins games during that time, so if you see a brand new Marine in dress blues at a Marlins game during that period of time, that's probably going to be me. Once I hit the fleet though and join a unit, i'll try and start posting on here again but that is at least 6 months away and i'll only be able to do that a couple weekends each month when i'm free.

 

What are my plans for the Marine Corps? First and foremost I want to go to Iraq, there's no time like war time to be a Marine. Becoming a combat veteran is pretty much a requirement for anyone who wants to make a career out of the Marine Corps. I also want to eventually go on embassy duty which is a special billet for 3 years where i'll serve three separate 12 month tours at any of the ~130 U.S. embassies around the globe. In an ideal world, I would like to do 20 years and retire at the ripe old age of 41 years old and then pursue a second career in something else- I already have a degree in Emergency Management so who knows where that could lead me. I know all you guys love to talk about how it was wrong for us to go into Iraq and all that, but to me it's all irrelevant. I am not joining the Marine Corps because I want to go to Iraq or anywhere else, I am joining the Marine Corps because I want to be a Marine, and if going to Iraq or anywhere else is a part of it, then i'll be glad to do it. I've been through a lot to get to the point where I am now, before even being able to join I had to lose 84 pounds, I went from 240 pounds to 156 pounds, it's like I lost an entire 9 year old kid or something, haha (my before and after pictures are in this thread: http://www.marlinbaseball.com/forums/index...showtopic=69088 )

 

I leave on Monday, so I basically have 6 days left as a civilian, I want to create my farewell thread now so i'll have a chance to say goodbye to everyone and read what everyone says before I leave, i've been an active member of MB.com for something like 3 or 4 years now and i've really grown attached to this community and everyone on here and I can honestly say that i'm going to miss all of you guys. I've got a lot of good memories of MB.com, everything from the game threads to the heated debates in the Bullpen forum to the hourly calls to FIRE BILL ROBINSON a few years ago ( :lol ), all good times.

 

I'm going to miss everyone, I don't want to leave anyone out but if I do I apologize. I'd like to thank all the members for all the good times and everything else, starting at the top with Admin for making this site, and in no particular order I would like to thank and say good bye to TheDon, chewbacca, primemeto, tarheel325, hotcorner, Juanky, Holly, Das, Jimmy, FlyingMollusk, ramp, poptart, Marlins02, Junior, B4P, pierreMVP1, iowa, FishFanInPA, Cape, Jimmy, Holly, stork, jetsmania, thegreatone, Rachel, buckeye, catchoftheday, Fish4life, dodge, madman81, yenta, PBCmarlinsfan, Agonzalez, EL/jewbility/??, Eob, yankeefan21, FFPR, Passion, rferry, mikeyfan, CTmarlinsfan, Fish Tank Frenzy, TSwift, timewrecker, festa, miri & max, fritz, PBMarlin, cangelosi, WildCard, Marlins2003, shaqman, fishfan79, dan marino forever, shamrock, mabdul, futureGM, the fan, Penguino, farmerfran, heatgirl, hanleylicious, spike, bradcore, jondigital, wes welker, endline, PHXphin, rorod, bobbob, ericwiener, cangelosi, ice man, wanks, markkotsay, and of course... NoLimitMarlinsCommander, I love that guy :lol .

 

I hope I didn't leave anyone out, and I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart that I will miss each and every one of you and all of your various personalities and everything else that has brought us all together on MB.com as diehard Marlins fans. No matter where I am in the world I will always be rooting for the Marlins, and those few times each year when an FSN Florida Marlins game is broadcast on the Armed Forces Network, you know i'll be watching.

 

Thank you all for the great times, it has truly been fun.

 

Goodbye everyone.

No love for yenta??

No love for yenta??

LOL, I just saw that you were viewing the thread and said to myself "oh sh*t, yenta's viewing the thread" and I tried to do a ninja edit and put you on before you realized :lol .

Thanks for the shout out Accord. Do your thing, and most importantly be safe. Thank you for defending us.

Good luck, and stay safe. Thanks for serving the country.

This is how a farewell thread ought to be done, and you undoubtedly deserve a farewell thread.

 

Goodbye, and I mean it when I wish you the best of luck.

good luck

Best of luck to you man!

Good luck.

I wish you all the best accord. We've had some serious arguments on the bullpen and I'm sure I've annoyed the sh*t out of you as much as you've annoyed the sh*t out of me. Whatever your views are about liberals, Iraqis, foreigners, the poor, John Kerry and whoever else, your well being stands above that. Congratulations on achieving your life long goal. And thank you for taking up arms and having the willingness to give your life so the rest of the world knows there are Americans who are willing to pay the ultimate price. God speed

I wish you the best of luck and the best of health in all that you will be doing in the armed forces

 

Despite having different political views, I've got all the respect in the world for you and the choices you have made

 

Stay safe man; And of course thank you for enlisting and your willingness to defend our country.

Cya.

 

Achieve your dreams.

 

 

Don't shoot me cause I'm a liberal.

Outside of posts on Israel, i don't think i've read many political posts of your that I can agree with, but your making the boldest political statement you can by fighting for the US of A.

 

Congrats on getting in fighting shape, and good luck wherever you end up,

 

It's been fun!

 

--TW :bluein

Best of luck to you, Ninja.

Damn.

 

Who's JimmyJack gonna go nose to nose with now that your leaving?

 

 

 

We're all gonna miss you bro.

 

 

Some unrequested advice:

 

 

For bootcamp: Keep your ears open and your mouth shut

 

 

For overseas: Watch people's HANDS. Its the HANDS that will kill you.

 

 

 

Good luck to you and report back for updates now and again.

Farewell Accord, I will miss talking hockey with ya and all that jazz.

 

 

 

Go and achieve your dreams of the military. Hopefully, you'll be able to see the world on duty. And be safe in Iraq if you are assigned there.

be safe Accord! We'll miss ya but the Marines will be getting one heck of a soldier methinks.

And Good luck. I have a world of respect for what you are about to embark on.

good luck dood

First of all, Thanks for enlisting in the Marines. America is the most powerful country in the world today because of volunteers like you.

 

Next order of business, Congratulations. The Marines are the most elite branch of the military and its no easy thing to join. I realize that carrying the title of United States Marines means more to you than many of us can realize. You're making the most of your life from your perspective, which is all that someone can ask of life.

 

Finally, good luck. From what I hear, Marine bootcamp puts Army and Navy bootcamp to shame in terms of what you have to endure. And after that, you get real action. Stay safe out there.

 

I'll miss having your conservative views in the bullpen, even if they are extreme sometimes. So, Godspeed Accord, you've found your calling in life and i envy you for that.

Good luck man.

 

I hope you fulfil your dreams.

Good luck Accord. Stay safe, and I must say: Thanks.

I just updated my signature one last time, I know my signatures over these past few years have been known to be pretty controversial and upset a bunch of people, this one last time I decided to pick something that everyone would enjoy.

 

Thanks for the shout out Accord. Do your thing, and most importantly be safe. Thank you for defending us.

Thanks man.

 

Good luck, and stay safe. Thanks for serving the country.

Thanks Admin.

 

This is how a farewell thread ought to be done, and you undoubtedly deserve a farewell thread.

 

Goodbye, and I mean it when I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks Mabdul.

 

good luck

Thanks

 

Best of luck to you man!

Thanks

 

Good luck.

Thanks

 

I wish you all the best accord. We've had some serious arguments on the bullpen and I'm sure I've annoyed the sh*t out of you as much as you've annoyed the sh*t out of me. Whatever your views are about liberals, Iraqis, foreigners, the poor, John Kerry and whoever else, your well being stands above that. Congratulations on achieving your life long goal. And thank you for taking up arms and having the willingness to give your life so the rest of the world knows there are Americans who are willing to pay the ultimate price. God speed

Thanks F_M, it is comforting to know that I have pissed you off just as much as you have pissed me off :lol . I'm really going to miss going at it with you on a daily basis, it's definitely been fun even if it didn't seem like it at the time. Thanks man.

 

I wish you the best of luck and the best of health in all that you will be doing in the armed forces

 

Despite having different political views, I've got all the respect in the world for you and the choices you have made

 

Stay safe man; And of course thank you for enlisting and your willingness to defend our country.

Thank you.

 

Cya.

 

Achieve your dreams.

 

 

Don't shoot me cause I'm a liberal.

:lol

 

Even though it may seem like I hate you, I really don't and I enjoyed the flavor you added to the board. It's been fun.

 

Outside of posts on Israel, i don't think i've read many political posts of your that I can agree with, but your making the boldest political statement you can by fighting for the US of A.

 

Congrats on getting in fighting shape, and good luck wherever you end up,

 

It's been fun!

 

--TW :bluein

Thanks TW.

Best of luck big guy. The Marines are getting themselves one hell of a soldier. Thanks for serving our country and congratulations on achieving your goal. Stay safe and don't forget to stop by every once in a while and let us know how it's going.

Best of luck to you, Ninja.

Thanks hardcharger.

 

Damn.

 

Who's JimmyJack gonna go nose to nose with now that your leaving?

 

 

 

We're all gonna miss you bro.

 

 

Some unrequested advice:

 

 

For bootcamp: Keep your ears open and your mouth shut

 

 

For overseas: Watch people's HANDS. Its the HANDS that will kill you.

 

 

 

Good luck to you and report back for updates now and again.

Thanks man, i'm definitely going to miss you guys as well.

 

And good advice on the hands, I will definitely remember that and will definitely be sure to check in on here every now and then and keep you guys updated on what i'm doing and where i'm at.