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The only place on Parris Island that really sparked my husband’s memory was the parade deck.
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It was a cold and windy day but he wanted to walk the entire thing.
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The fancy grandstand wasn’t there in his day.
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But he remembers being drilled and marched until he couldn’t see straight. D.I.’s screaming, recruits passing out from the heat, being overwhelmed and overtired, getting slapped when he said yes sir.
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He swore he’d forget his mother’s name before his drill instructor’s.
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The required selfie, wind blowing so hard I had hair in my mouth.
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I walked around the Iwo Jima Statue and left the husband alone with his memories.
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Those bricks he’s looking at are memorials. Engraved with the names of fallen Marines. A lot of the boys he went through boot camp with never came back from Vietnam. I think my husband sometimes wonders why he was the lucky one…
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A while later we finished our tour of the base.
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And decided to stop at the PX for a bite to eat.
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Naturally, the food court was closed. But I was cold and wanted to buy a sweatshirt so we shopped.
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The husband really wanted this funky bottle of vodka for the man cave bar.
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We even tried to find a small box and some bubble wrap to smuggle it in his suitcase on the flight home… but no luck. The saleswoman said we could order it online but in Maine it’s illegal to mail liquor.
Boo to that.
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Moving on, the husband checked out the price of Dress Blues.
And when we passed the challenge coins? I had to laugh.
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Two full rows of Trump still for sale, while Obama and Biden were almost sold out.
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It was a good morning.
My husband always wanted to go back and I’ve always wanted to see the place he talks about with such reverence.
❤️
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River's world..... 