I have some very happy news. I was wrong about which ship my son is on. When I talked to him a couple of days before he shipped out, he didn't know which ship he would be on. Then he was whisked away and there followed a complete block on communication before he had a chance to tell me anything. He didn't get his first mail call until November 3, and then the only person that he wrote the name of his ship to was my mother. My mother left for Tucson, Arizona before the letter arrived, and only received it the end of last week. In the meantime, I had done some investigating on the USMC website and knowing only that he is in the 26th MEU AAV detachment and departed from Camp Lejeune, it seemed that the USS Bataan was his ship. Much to my delight I find that he is actually aboard the USS Whidbey Island. I have no idea where that ship is at present, but I have not heard that they are sending Marines from that ship to Afghanistan. Hopefully they leave him in the Mediterranean, somebody's got to ride around there, too! Now I just have to figure out how to tell all the great people at AWAD. I still am praying for all those that have landed and I know they are in everyone's thoughts as well, but myomy I feel such great relief!
I decided that this PM I wrote to a concerned friend would be the right way to tell all you great people my good news.