Phone Call from Garratt

It was a wonderful surprise to receive a phone call from Garratt today. He graduates from basic training tomorrow, and today is a “family day” for any family who wanted to attend the graduation. Garratt told us not to worry about coming since it was so close to the wedding and we would only get to spend one day with him. Tomorrow after graduation, he flies to Ft. Aberdine in Maryland for his AIT (advanced individual training). Today, he was spending time with his friend, pvt. Nerdin and his family, who are from Cedar Hills and who drove 26 hours to get to Kentucky. He called me on their cell phone, and we talked for about 15 minutes. It was great to hear his voice. He said that when he went to church on Sunday, they had cards for each new post with the address and contact info for the church in that area. I am so grateful that the church is making it very easy for soldiers to find their new wards and members.

He told a “miracle story” about his body armor. He said that they had to clean it “better than they received it”. He had worked so hard to clean his gear, and decided to put it through the washer one last time. The person who had used the washing machine before him had washed a pen, and it had exploded, leaving ink all over Garratt’s clean body armor. Garratt knew that hair spray takes out ink, but they didn’t have any. They decided that alcohol is the main ingredient in hairspray, but they didn’t have any of that either. So they used hand sanitizer. He really scrubbed and was able to get most of it out. When he turned in his armor, he was so relieved that they accepted it without any trouble. Garratt feels it is an answer to prayers.

Garratt also said that his platoon was named the honor platoon in his company with best overall PT scores and rifle and marksmanship. He sounded very good and said that without question, he is glad that he did this training. He is, however, glad that it is over. He said he will have more freedom in AIT. It will be more like an 8-hour a day job with nights and weekends off. He will finish this training mid January, but will have leave time for Thanksgiving (five days) and two weeks at Christmas. He said he really misses his nephews and niece.