Home stretch!

Well, you are almost there. You have been in our thoughts and prayers especially these last few days. Hope everything went well and your fam is anxious to see you. Come home soon! Love, aunt tam

Crucible - Brian will be starting this on THURSDAY

Hey Guys,

Brian is in the final phase of boot camp!  Some days that is hard to believe that he has been gone for almost 12 weeks already and other days it feels like we would never get to this point!  I just wanted everyone to know that Brian could use the extra prayers this week.  He will starting the Crucible on Thursday.  Knowing my Son the way I do I know in my heart this kid will kick butt!  But the Mother in me wants everyone else to have his back in thoughts and prayers!  LOL

Brian and I want to thank ALL OF YOU that have taken the time to write to Brian, pray for him, and to check on his Mother to make sure she was still hanging in there!  You have no idea what it means to us to have family and friends that care and love your child so much.

I have attached a link below that will give you and idea of what he is going to face for 54 hours. 

Information about the Crucible

Thanks again!
Love
Lynn

Update on Brian

Well we finally heard from Brian today.  He has been very busy getting ready for the Company Commander Inspection and they didn't have free time for almost a week.  Brian had told Lachelle in her last letter about his score at the rifle range which was the 215 out of 250.  He did not elaborate any more then that so he did explain what that meant in our letter today.  He qualified as a sharpshooter he was only 5 points away from expert so he was quite proud of himself.  I'm not sure who is prouder him or his father!  lol  They had to get ready for the Combat Fitness Test which consists of a 800 yard sprint, 30 lbs of ammo can lifts and an obstacle course.  He said it is very brutal and that we should look it up online.  This  is the course I have seen that they have to carry someone in this obstacle course.  He ran the 800 yards in 3mins 18 seconds, did 102 ammo lifts and the course in 2:29, overall he did better than anyone in his platoon!  He is counting down to the Crucible (only 2 weeks) and Family Day (3 weeks) he is hoping it goes by very fast.  But then he told me he has his flight booked for April 25th so of course that made the tears start rolling down my face already!  LOL  And this is Lachelle's birthday.  But I will deal with this when it gets here!

And we got the packet about his graduation so we are all looking forward to that!

Riffle Training

Brian had riffle training for two weeks.  One week is called grass week where they sit for hours and hold positions as if they were shooting and then the 2nd week is qualification week.   He said he did pretty good 215 out of 250.  So this is one more more qualification behind us for graduation!  I'm not sure who is happier Lachelle, me or Zeke that we are looking towards the home stretch of boot camp!  Poor Zeke has had one ear infection after another and we are starting on our third go around. I talked to the vet's office last night and now they are going to need to do a culture on his ears and send that away to figure out what type of infection he has in order to figure out what antibiotic he needs to clear this up for good.  So Zeke needs Brian back to baby him and get him through the next few weeks because we have Zeke stressed out this week.  Monday night Kerry Grubb and Brian started the work on the family room. We are putting a door at the top of the family room stairs to turn the family room into a living area for Brian, Lachelle and Baby Logue so they can try to get some money saved up for their own place.  But change scares Zeke so he won't go up or down the steps unless he is protected by one of us!  LOL So I'm pretty sure Zeke will be the happiest to see Brian.

Thinking about you, Brian

Hi Brian,
Was just thinking about you and wanted you to know that I am proud of you. I hope things are going well. Won't be long now so keep up the good work!! Love you, Aunt Ann

Song of the Month- Fireball Mail

Flatt & Scruggs at it again on their show sponsored by Martha White Flour, if you ever get a chance get the video off Netflix it is interesting to watch. The song of the month Is Fireball Mail. Enjoy.  Opps wrong blog.

Brian's letter dated March 6, 2011

We got a letter from Brian today letting us know that he doesn't think he likes being 20! He figures he will have to act more like a grown up since he isn't a teenager anymore (then he says haha I'm just kidding but turning 20 definitely feels weird to say I'm 20).  Wait until his little one is turning 20 like his Mother is dealing with! lol He survived the mid cycle personal fitness test which entailed pull ups, sit ups and a 3 mile run.  He said he needs to improve but was pretty proud of himself for running 3 miles in 24:45 minutes when he hates to run but he will be working on improving that. lol  And he couldn't remember if he had told me or not but he is up to 175lbs!  That was a big surprise he was at his highest weight ever before he left and that was only 154lbs!  His recruiter told us before he left that you will probably see a big difference one way or the other with his weight.  Either he will loose a lot of weight while he is in boot camp or he will bulk up.  Well I figured as thin as that kid was he would loose weight not gain it so I can't wait to see what he looks like!  This week he will be shooting all week and then Saturday he will be hiking 9 miles fully geared.  He is counting down the days to the crucible which as of 3/6/11 was 4 weeks and 4 days and only 5 weeks 4 days until Family day!  We are all doing the same count down here. Brian asked me to put this on the blog -

I appreciate all the letters and cards just gonna take me a while to respond to them.  I love you all and can't wait to see you!

Letter from Brian dated 3/3/11

Brian sounds good in his letters (thank goodness) but said he was just scratching off another day on his calendar until he gets to see everyone!  And he heard we were renting two vehicles to come down so now he is wondering who all is coming! lol  I printed out a copy of the blog and sent to him and he was thrilled and told me that he thought it was awesome and that I did a great job on it!  (he knows how many issues his mother has was new things on the computer haha).  He went on to tell us about the service rifles they are shooting and some interesting things he learned about guns that his father understood.  He said grass week is very hard they have to get into really uncomfortable positions and stay in them for hours and stare at targets and act like you are shooting.  He said it makes your body ache (more than it already does) and on Saturday they have IPFT which is initial physical fitness test and they have to do pull ups, sit ups and a 3 mile run (then he wrote - yeah Happy Birthday Recruit Logue. lol I dreading it because I hate running)
He also got a letter from Aunt Edith.

Letter from Brian dated 2/27/11

Brian said their hike to the rifle range was 6 1/2 miles fully geared (which weighs a ton).  This week at the rifle range is grass week where they learn how to shoot and log all of their information into their books.  They will shooting the rifles and have to qualify in order to graduate as well.  He said everyone has told them that this is the two worst weeks because the drill instructors loose their minds over every little thing we do wrong and we get messed up all day long!

He said he hates how long the mail takes but that he appreciates hearing from everyone.

Letter from Brian dated 2/24/11

Sorry guys, I was still sick last week and didn't get my blog updated!   Brian was happy to get a letter I sent him last week with pictures of Lachelle and her little baby bump and the second sonogram she had a few weeks back.  I sent him the 1st sonogram as well so he could see the difference in the two sonograms and he said that he was showing everyone pictures of his baby!  LOL  He also said that he had a very interesting week.  He passed a 100 question test which you are required to pass to graduate (yeah) and then he went to the gas chamber!  He said they take you into a room and light the gas and then make you do 30 jumping jacks and then they break the seal of their masks.  He said people were freaking out and one guy passed out but he handled it well!  He said he didn't even move and he took small breaths so that he wasn't as messed up as most people.  Then they went to the rappell tower and fast rope. He did a helicopter simulator jump. Saturday the 26th they would be packing up all of their stuff and hiking to the rifle range for two weeks.

I had to laugh when I read this letter!  I told his father only our child would handle the gas chamber well. lol

Craig (Pap)

Recievied letter 2/14 he sounds great & well on path to becoming a Marine!

Brian's Birthday is March 5th

Hey Guys,

Brian's birthday is next Saturday he will be 20!!!  If you get a chance could you send him a note?  I know he loves getting mail from all of you!  thank you.

Here is his address again if you need it.

RCT Logue, B.W.
3rd BN, Mike Co., PLT 3030
P.O. Box 16345
MCRD Parris Island, SC  29905


And Dad I'm sorry I didn't call you on your birthday yesterday I was sleeping most of the day!  So Happy Belated Birthday!  I love you!

Lynn

Letter from Brian dated February 20th

We also got a letter from Brian yesterday but I have been sick so I didn't get much of anything done the past two days. Brian said things were much more hectic everyday and there just isn't enough time to write. (We have been getting an average to two letters a week plus the letters he write to Lachelle and Brandon) until this week. He said they have initial drill tomorrow which is a competition they have been practicing hours each day for. They dress up with protective gear and fight with big sticks which are the pugile sticks. On Saturday they actually put them into a pit to fight he said it was pretty intense you only get to fight once but the drill instructor liked my fight so I guess we did a good job at trying to kill each other. He said he went to bed Friday night at 8 and woke up at 9:30 with his ear throbbing and was up until 12:30 or so, but then he said it let up but that both of his ears feel weird and couple of people have ear infections already. I had read that on the website before I got his letter on Wed.

Brandon got a letter last Saturday and Brian told him that because he was one of the first people to pass his swim test he had to help the others in the pool and that it wasn't fun at all helping. He didn't say why he didn't like it but Brian has always gotten swimmers ear just like his mother does! And something tells me that big bad Marines aren't offering him alcohol and peroxide to dry the water in your ears after each swim so this may be why he is having an ear ache.

He was laughing at Pop-Pop because Mom-Mom wrote him to tell him that Pop-Pop has taken half ownership of Zeke. When he went to see the Dr. the form asked him his pet's name so he wrote down Zeke! LOL Brian was cracking up and we have had a little drama here with Zeke because he got an ear infection and I forgot to call the darn vet so the next day poor Zeke came down his head was hanging side ways so of course I remembered I hadn't called the vet and Brian was like woman you have to remember to call them today! So when I wrote Brian about it I sent him a card that had a dog on it and told him I must confess your poor dog thinks that you left him and now your Mother is trying to kill me and signed it from Zeke! LOL Zeke hated the medicine and it took two of us to get it in his ear.  Brian would have to sit on top of him and I would have to hold his paws but now he is much better and likes the attention!  So Brian told me to keep him posted on Zeke and how he is doing because he had shown his friends some pictures I sent him of Zeke and they all think he is a furociuous dog so he said you know i had to go along with it i wouldn't tell any of them how much of a sissy he really is! LOL

finally heard from Brian again!

Heyy guys:) i have not heard from Brian in a week, and i finally got another letter. Thank god because i miss that boy like crazy everyday! He is doing great! He told me that i better tell him the sex of the baby asap and that he does not want to wait until April 15, well he is going to have to wait! lol. i think that it will be more exciting if i surprise him at his graduation rather than write it and him finding out through an mail. So if you guys find out what it is NO ONE go writing Brian and telling him haha. thank youu! My belly is getting pretty big now and i should be able to find out the sex in a few weeks looking forward to buying lots of cute baby stuff and I'm sure Mrs.Lynn is too. Hope everyone is doing well keep in touch. Love you all,
LaChelle

Semper Fi

Don't really know what I am doing...just investigating this new form of communication. Always something new.

Letter from Brian dated 2/15/11

We got a letter from Brian tonight.  He has a request for anyone writing him - please put the date on your letter you are sending him and if you are writing back to him put the date of his letter on it some where so he knows you got his letter as well as the date you are writing to him. 

Today was training day 19 and we have swim qualifications this week.  I passed it yesterday we had to swim like a total of 100 meters fully clothed and with boot then tread water for four minutes.

He had a paragraph in there to Brandon telling him that he will be writing him again and how sorry he was about Brandon's loosing his friend Andrew.

Letter from Brian dated February 12, 2011

Ok instead of bugging everyone with emails you may not want I decided to try this blog!  This way if your interested in what Brian is doing or want an update you can come to this site and check it out.  I think the easiest thing to do is to type what Brian has written in his letter.  So I am typing this as his point of view (of course I have added in some of my own comments!  lol)

Hey guys its Saturday, February 12th  I just got a couple of letters from the 8th I've been getting them almost every day though so it's cool.  It's really really hard to keep up with all the letter so just bare with me I reply as asap! 

Today we hiked 8 kilometers with like 60 pounds on their backs plus our riffles and helmets.  We also did pugle sticks which is stick fighting.  I jammed my thumb really bad but I'm hiding it from drill instructors so I don't get sent to medical.  (you can fall behind if you get hurt or sick etc... and not graduate with your squad)

Today we had senior drill instructor inspections which consists of like 20 DI's running into our barracks and destroying everything!  LOL They flipped our racks (which is their beds) dumped all our stuff everywhere it was bad! We are on training day 17, training day 25 we take a 100 question test and start phase 2 of training (Phase 1 is just drill, physical training, martial arts & pugle sticks.  Phase 2 is rifle range and alot more interesting things) 1st day of Phase 2 is Gas Chamber and rappel tower! (only my child would think this stuff is more interesting!  lol)

I'm running out of time, no mail on Sundays so I will send this out on Monday.  I miss you guys, love you all and I appreciate all the support and letters it helps keep me going.

I had also sent him a questionnaire for him to fill out to answer some of our questions we had (the website I get on for families of the marines gave me the idea) so here are some of the questions I asked that you may be interested in hearing the answers to.

Q.  So what is the food like at boot camp? Are you eating MRE's (Mom-Mom knows about these not your mother) LOL
A.  No MRE's yet!  Food is like good school lunch, you get salad, jello, crackers couple of other sides to choose from plus bread and PB&J packets (which everyone lives off) I eat like 2 sandwiches per meal.

Q.  What are you doing to get all of your IT's and what is an IT? (He told us in his 2 & 3rd letter about getting these - at first he just said lol but the next letter he said they said I have an attitude but I don't think I do!)
A.   It is intense training they make you do all sorts of exercises and scream at you.  I get IT'd less now but I was getting It'd cause they said I had an attitude.

Q.  Did you make any friends?
A.  Yeah I usually talk to a couple of kids I came down from MD with and a kid from Jersey.

Q.  Did you get to watch the super bowl?
A.  haha yeah I wish

Q.  Who have you gotten letter from so far?
A.  Mom-Mom & Pop-Pop, Grammy & Pappy, Gary & Tam, all you guys, Kelly, Keith S. & Pappy (Chris's Dad)(he was tellin me about when he was in boot camp)
 (which for some of you he is talking about Christy Barber's Dad, Craig but he is Pappy to my kids too!)

Q.  Is there anything special you want me to write to you about?
A.  No keep writing them like you are I love reading them (I write him everyday because the website told me too!  LOL but i just write about what is going on that day at the Logue house including updates on his DOG!! or send him a card or clippings out of the paper)  Speaking of which if you want to send him a picture you can (he asked me to send him some) but a great easy way is to insert a picture on to your paper in word and that way you don't have to get an extra copy.  When I read about that online I decided to start typing my letters too!  Much quicker and then I can add pictures whenever right in my letter!

Q.  When did you get your first letter? And from who?  (They told us his mail would be delayed in the beginning so I asked him this a while back)
A.  Got a couple on Feb. 3rd or 4th from Mom & Brandon(Brandon's was the 1st I read though)
(Gotta love thathe  picks his brother over his mother LOL)

Lachelle got a letter as well she will be over when she gets off work tonight! 

Lynn