PICTURES

Tuesday Nov. 9th 2010

Well I was supposed to go to the Claymore Mine today, but instead, I went to the Dentist. They pulled down my gums,..apparently last time I got them cleaned they didnt do a very good job. Plus all of the smoking Ive done. She tore my mouth UP! But now its all nice and purty. After the dentist I took a nap and then helped DS Lilly type some report thing for Batallion.. A fairly slow day. DS Hall gave us some sobering insight!! He said,"Right now there are soldiers, that were standing right where you are, just 4 mos ago, and are now in Afghanistan! They are waiting for you to relieve them! You are the future of the Infantry. Right now you are molded iron, you started from coal 6 wks ago. In the next 8 wks we are going to shape you into a cold steel sword, and make you razor sharp!! Some of you may not make it back home, and believe me when I find out its gonna hurt! I always wonder if there was something I could have trained that person better in! ...But you have got to remember why, you're risking your life!Because you know if those people over there, got the chance to capture your Mother, Father, Brother or Sister, Wife or Child..They would cut there head off on live television, with no remorse, and that should make you sick to your stomach and that should be your drive!! Knowing what they have done and what they will do, given the chance!!"   It was a pretty sobering and inspirational speech! I think it made us all really think about what it is we are doing here, and why we are so willing to put our lives on the line. Its not for the American people...Its for you, our friends and family! If not us then who?? Less then 1 percent of the population serve our country in the armed forces, 0.02% are Infantryman. Really makes you think doesnt it? Gonna close now...PV2 Fonville

Monday Nov. 8th 2010

Mondays are always lame, especially in Basic Training! Its the day we go back to work and kick off a new week. We woke up at 3:50am and did our push-ups at 4:30. I was so happy! I surprised the heck out of everyone, and ran 2 miles in 13:20. I cut a whole Min. off. I weigh 190 lbs. and I smoke and Im the 5th fastest runner in our Platoon. The next PT test, I really want to get a 260 total! I got 220 this time! I still suck at sit-ups..lol. After the PT test I went to our first advanced rifle range. I shot 10, 5 round bursts, on the M2.50 Cal Machine Gun (bullets almost the size of my hand) and the Mark 19 fully automatic Grenade Launcher. I fired the Grenade Launcher far into a little valley, at an ols Bradley Tank. It felt awesome firing these massive, high powered weapons! I took a nap in a field for about an hour, during lunch..lol...During PT it was 35 degrees. during lunch it was 70. Its just been cold at night. We all sleep in our winter sleeping bags. They keep us super warm!Anyway gonna go work on PT and shower. We have a huge Ruck March tomorrow. Oh and thank you for the pics of, Lex, Tyler, Blake and Keifer! They are hanging in my locker:) Cant wait to see my Mom and Sister and Family, on Family day! 18 more days! Good Night..PV2 Fonville
P.S. Please send Ricolla cough drops Fruit Breezes cough drops..LOTS..and Phone Cards..Thanks

Sunday Nov. 7th 2010

Sorry I havent updated in a few days.Been really busy. On Friday I had pre quals. I shot a 33 out of 40. I was pretty happy. That night we went to see Trace Atkins. It really was fun! I dont care too much for country music, but I enjoyed it! We got to talk to some guys in Airborne school. There were a lot of civilians, and a  lot of them were walking up and thanking us for our service. We were free to eat pizza, candy, funnel cake, etc. I had a funnel cake and a Mountain Dew. I almost threw up but it was delicious...lol..Anyway yesterday we qualified. I was really nervous and I messed up bad! I shot 29 out of 40. I still shot pretty high compared to everyone else, but I wanted to do better. My last magazine had a 0 double feed, so I had to miss 3 targets. I was one shot away from Sharpshooter so you can imagine how mad I was!! But oh well I can become an Expert later. For now I just need to qualify. It was a good feeling, walking up and having them put our ACU helmet cover on our helmets, and pinning that Marksman badge on our IBA. Oh I forgot to mention we are the first cycle, ever to qualify in full Battle Rattle! That made it a lot harder!! Its been freezing the past 3 days! So windy and so cold! It sucks! We wear thick thermals under everything and sleep in our big sleeping bags. Also one of our Team Leaders got fired, so guess who was forced back into being a team leader..yep, Me!! Couldnt have come at a worse time. We are doing room sweeps and clearing them and doing live fire missions next week. I have to lead my 6 man team. Also come to find out, during FTX, I will be leading them and carrying the M249 Saw! Ahhhhh....3 Wks til Family Day! It will be so nice to see my Mom, Sister, Bro-In-Law, Niece and Nephews! We have a PT test Monday. It will be cold and Im still sick, super dumb! I love you guys..Please write Me.
PV2 Fonville

P.S. PT test tomorrow and its gonna suck! I have to get a 270 on the one after this in order to get Airborne

Address

PV2Fonville, Thomas RN#209
E-Co.2/54 INF.
8775 Albanese Dr.
Fort Benning, Ga. 31905
The Rn# has to be placed on the back also

Some Of My Writings

Summer has passed and winter is here.
Along with the wind, your voice disappears.
This desperation will soon subside
For too long I have tried
To hold this together, piece by piece
To mend this together strip by strip.
I'll tear away this wall brick by brick.
Here I am standing on top of the world,preaching a Hymn to the hopeless,
A song for the deaf
Watching my world fall to the ground,
We lye here together and barely make a sound.
They all think I'm dying,
But I'm doing just fine.
Its all in my head I'm just losing my mind.
The second you take your very last breath,I'll stop loving you and let it all go.
But until then I'll be right here waiting for you to show.
For now..please excuse My absence
For the life I lead is now in past tense.

Thurs. Nov. 4th 2010

Today we had pre-pre qualification. I shot 31 out of 40. Tomorrow I have the actual pre-qual. If I shoot expert (at least 36 out of 40) I wont have to shoot on Saturday. I really want to shoot expert. Its a big deal to get expert..plus it means I out shot Dad and kept up with Mike..lol.Anyway, all in all, it was a good day. After pre-qual tomorrow, we are going to a Trace Atkins concert..lol. Ive seen him a few times already but it will be nice to just get out for awhile. Gonna cut this short, gotta shower. PV2Fonville

Wed. Nov. 3rd 2010

I'm sitting in the Day Room right now with Humphree. The Day Room is the DS lounge. Its awkward..lol. We just got back from sick call and the rest of our platoon is at the range, shooting. It turns out I have a mild respiratory infection. I have to wear a mask to avoid spreading it and they gave me medicine. So hopefully, I'll feel better soon. While I was waiting outside, I ran into a friend of mine from GED Plus. Blaire, he got put into a dufferent Company. I looked at him and said "Blaire"! He looked at me and said, "Fonville??" He said damn you lost a lot of weight..haha!! We talked and laughed and it was nice...Turns out he is getting kicked out for assaulting a DS..lol! He could be facing some jail time, but pretty unlikely.On our way back me and Hump saw another Familys, Family day. Made me so anxious for my own Family Day! When I see civilians it reminds me that there is a world outside of this place and it makes me feel really happy! When I got weighed at the Doc I had lost 5 more pounds, plus I had my boots on. Its funny cause I felt like I was gaining, because of all the MRE's we eat and they are loaded with calories!! Plus a lack of running  lately.  Oh how the end grows near! 3Wks and 3Days..Then 2 weeks til I go on Christmas Leave! I'll write later gotta get ready to go to EST.

Tues. Nov. 2nd 2010

Well we went to the range again. I shot 26 of 30. Not too bad, but I still need a lot of work. The weather was beautiful today. So cool dark and gloomy. We rode in a deuce on the way up there. We looked like we were on our way into a Worl WarII era, battle, wearing our assault packs and full battle-rattle. Im getting really use to shooting my weapon. I dont even blink when a round goes off, and Im starting to like the smell of the rounds after theyve been fired! Anyway, I filled out a sick call form..Im REALLY sick. My squad leader is really pissing me off..Killebrew has been messing uo bad, so they made me take care of him. That is a squad or team leaders job. Not Mine! Well now hes trying to get me switched to being Killebrews Battle Buddy! I like my Battle Buddy! Also this morning, Garcia corrected our Squad Leader and now Garcia and I have Fire Guard, for smarting off. WTF...Garcia is one of the nicest guys here, Its total BS! Im gonna get ready for Chow and write more later.
1:00am   I'm on CQ right now. Me and Garcia got Gatorade,(not suppose to but we are Rebels). Its our last night doing anything together. From now on Im with Killebrew. I already didnt like my Squad Leader and now Im furious! Other than that Ive been doing better. The 200 page notebook that Mom sent me, is now full of my poems and writing a lot. I'll attach the latest one. Im still sick. It comes in bursts. One second I'll be fine. The next, I cant stop coughing! Gonna close for now..CQ is almost over. I love you..Keep writing me.
Pv2 Fonville

Monday Nov.1st 2010

6Am..Im out at the Range, freezing my butt off, making 4 dollars an hr. Why did I sign up for this??..LOL..I was woke up at 4am and told I had duty squad at the Range. So I didnt have to go to PT. Me George,Killebrew and DS Reidel drove all the way to the range and set up equipment, in full battle rattle! So now we are handing out Ammo all day. So boring. At least its a pretty day out. The sun is just rising! We have 2 more hrs before anyone gets here, so we are just talking Story.
3PM..We are finally back. Today was boring but I got to pretty much have the day off from training. So Im not going to complain. When we have a lot of down time, I think alot and my mind wanders. I think about my past, my future and what Im doing at that exact moment. It sucks being so lost and having no one toturn to for help. This whole experience has really changed my attitude towards life in general. There are a lot of things I have taken for granted, including my friends and family. This whole thing has made me a better man and as much as I wish I wasnt here...Im glad I am! I hope that makes some sense. What Ive realized from this blog, what started as a Basic Training Journal of a Soldiers day to day, has turned into a place where I can vent and pour my entire heart into, for the whole world to see. Its weird but it has become very therapeutic. .....Im gonna go try and clean my rifle and get ready for chow. Write more later.
8PM..I just got 3 letters from Mom. Since Killebrew has been messing up bad, the stupid team leaders have assigned me to be his Babysitter..UGH! Im gonna close early. I love you Guys..Good Night:)........Thomas Fonville

Sunday Oct. 31st 2010-Happy Halloween!!

Sunday is finally here! These weeks are beginning to fly by! Im gonna try and make this a long update. We are now starting week 5. This is my 9th week away from home. Its been a long way and a lot has changed. But Im here, alive and better than Ive ever been! It was scary being on my own at first, but I quickly learned to adapt. After losing the reason I joined in the first place I wanted to quit! Then I realized Im here for a different reason. Im here so I can better myself in everyway. Im here so I can grow up, Im here because I didnt wanna end up doing the same stuff Ive been doing for yrs. Ill be home soon and going straight into school, and bettering myself even further! Maybe me and Kaili didnt work out because God is leading me to make another girls life better. I try and look at the positive side of things. I miss her, I miss my old friends, I miss my old life but things are going to be better, I know it! AHHH!!  We just got Smoked for laying across our bed! ...Anyway Happy Halloween!! Really wish I could be with my friends! Last Halloween I was downtown in Waikiki, Having The Time Of  My Life!!! Now Im hoping to at least get a phone call:) I cant wait til Family Day and cant wait to get back home. Im still  unsure of what to expect. I dont know if I have any friends left, I dont know where Im going to be staying,..But I pray everyday that I'll be just fine and make everyone proud!
 I love you Mom. Thank you for updating all of this for me. Your letters make this a little easier and I save every one and I read them over.
8PM
 Well I got to talk to Mom and Dad. Even if its only for a few mins. It still made my day!:) Someone rear ended my car, luckily it was their fault, so no worries. Its funny, my plates are still Washington plates. Im still unsure if I'll even be going to Washington. I really want to be attending Everett still, but I cant do it without Kaili. ..Who knows..maybe I'll find a new roomate. ..Well Im feeling pretty sick right now and have a 30 min AGR run tomorrow morning. I didnt fill out a sick call slip, so hopefully they let me go. I Cant Stop Coughing!!! This place sux! Its literally like a prison! Some of our guys say they had it better at County Lock-Up...Why did we volunteer for this??? LOL...Well Im gonna try and get to bed early. Please write me if you read this.:)
Love All Very Much.. Pray For Me
PV2 Fonville

Saturday Oct. 30th 2010

Right now we are relaxing on the Bay after a great day yesterday. No fire guard last night and got my locker cleaned. We went to the LOMAH range (location of misses and hits). We shot at targets, 175 to 300 meters away.They try and get us good at shooting over 200 meters away.In Afghanistan most of our targets will be around 300 m away or more. Yesterday I impressed the hell out of DS Hunter and Hall.Today Ds Liliy was watching me shoot the whole time. He said Im a great shot and that I have potential to shoot Expert:) He even yelled to DS Reidel, "Farmville may qualify expert!" Out of 40 rounds shots, I made 37. I hit all of my 175 m. targetsat center mass and missed 3 on the 300. 300 Meters you can barely see the target..lol..We go to the PX tomorrow. Gotta get stamps. Im completely out. Anyway Im gonna close early. I have all day to write tomorrow. Love You All, Pv2 Fonville

Friday Oct. 29th 2010

Today has been a great day! I found out I'm a fairly good shooter. I impressed the hell out of my Sr DS I grouped and zeroed in 10 rounds. I really had no idea what I was doing. I just did what they said. I aimed my red dot at the center of the white and all of rounds landed in the black:) He put his hand on my shoulder and ask If I had fired M4 before? I said, Ive never fired a rifle in my life! He said hes gonna keep his eye on me and to keep doing what Im doing. I was really happy! Firing those rifles is fun. They're super loud and jerky..not a bad kick but it jerks. If you look at the pic of me and Geary doing push ups you can see my M4 rifle. After the range we had the Pugil competition, we got 2nd place. Oh I almost forgot we had a huge run for PT this morning. We ran 4 miles in 32 mins. I didnt have much faith in myself, but I did so well! I stayed within the first 4 ranks the entire time and it was a breeze. The constant training is actually working. Anyway I got my mail today from Brenda and Dad & Mom. Mom sent some pics and Dad got my ticket home.It topped a great day! While we were at the range we got to buy a gatorade and power bars from the "gut truck". So effin delicious! Oh and since that whole DS A-hole incident, everyone from our Company calls me "funny man"..lol...Well Im gonna close. I'll write personal letters on Sunday. Hope this holds you guys over until then. Thank you for all the support. It really helps. Good night:)

Thursday Oct. 28th 2010

Yesterday I didnt get to finish writing. Some terrible stuff happened last night. We were in final CQ formation. The A-hole DS that got in my face on that first day, was CQ for the night. Out of nowhere he looks at me and says, "whats effin funny pvt"? I thought he was talking to someone behind me cause I definitely wasnt laughing! But he was talking to me. He said come stand in front and tell everyone whats so damned funny, "Funny Man"!!!  I stood there in front of the whole Company and told him I wasnt laughing! He said if I dont tell him a joke he would Smoke my platoon for 45 mins. til lights out!! I was shaking but I told him a joke and everyone laughed but him. He said I was a Retard and I wouldnt amount to anything in the military. He ask my whole Company, "who thinks I should punch this Retard in the throat so he cant spread his seed and disease to the rest of the world"? NO one said a word! Everyone knew that I had did nothing wrong. They all know how disciplined I am. Oh and just so you know..during CQ, its just the one DS. Everyone else goes home. If my DS were there they would have stopped him. He got in my face and screamed at me to tell him a joke. But at that point I was so enraged that I couldnt. His breath smelled of chewing tobacco and he sprayed me with his spit. He then made me watch as my platoon did push ups for 15 mins! He yelled and ask if I was really that useless!!Our PG then yelled out"ask him the Infantrymans creed"!! Hicks, our PG,knows that I know my stuff when it comes to things weve learned. DS A-Hole said, if I could sound off with the Soldiers creed, Infantrymans creed and Army Song perfectly, he would let my platoon go!! I immediately did all 3 perfectly and I screamed it at the top of my lungs!!! After 45 mins of standing there shaking in anger he let us go!! My entire Platoon supported me and helped calm me down. They knew I didnt do anything..What made me so upset, was the fact that he wouldnt let my platoon go. Even after I pleaded with him to let them go and make me pay!! I cried my eyes out when I got upstairs, but Hernandez helped me understand that he is an Ass and hes not targeting me..hes mad at our platoon because we are always at the top of our game!

Wednesday Oct. 27th 2010

Today we had Combatives for PT. As I was laying there, I realized that the moon was still out, when most of you were still sound asleep in your beds, Im doing PT under the stars..LOL..Ridiculous! After PT we spent 3 hrs marching and doing D&C  at our graduation field. Its been ridiculously hot here, 95 degrees with crazy humidity. Agter the D&C we do Pugil competition to decide who from our platoon would be fighting the other platoons. Geary made it all the way to the finals but ended up losing to Hillman. Its 5PM and we are cleaning the Bay and waiting to go to Chow. We have the Eagle tower tomorrow, the big tower you repel down. I wont be going to range til Friday. Im sorry my updates are so bland. I dont find much time to write.when I do everyone bugs me..lol..Im gonna relax a bit and finish updating later.....................Anyway today we had a 5 mile Ruck March. It started to pour rain.It was crazy pretty! They made me wear a red chem light because Ive lost over 15 lbs in 2 mos. Its an excessive amount in a short amount of time. Well Ive got to close, lights out in a few. Love you guys got rifle range all day. I'll try to write a lot tomorrow.

Tuesday Oct. 26th 2010

Im sitting in the Dentist office right now. I waited outside of our Company for 3 hrs, while the rest of the Company was out at the shooting range. Its nice here in the dentist office.Me. Renteria, Tako form Hawaii, Wahiawa, Mililani and Johnson are here together. We even get to watch Tv here. Its ESPN. I dont care too much for Sports but its better than nothing! I guess I have a tiny cavity they want to fill. Might as well!

9PM Sorry that last part got cut off, they called me in. It was really relaxing. This sweet young girl (the dental asst.) was talking to me for awhile. She was 21 and just graduated 6 mos. ago. She was a bit flirty..lol..But it was nice. I listened to Fallout Boy and she rubbed my hand til I fell asleep. I got like 6 shots in my gums. Im still super numb! Turns out I have 2 cavities.One that is too tiny to worry about now. They said get it taken care of when I get home. The other one got filled. Now we are super bored waiting for our Company to get back. Crappy part is we cant go in our Bay. Well Im gonna walk around a bit. Hopefully they come back soon.
8PM....Well they got back 2 hrs ago. Geary zeroed in 15 shots and thats good. Garcia has to go back tomorrow so he will be with me. My teeth hurt:( Im in a pretty good mood today and dont feel down anymore. I think getting out and talking to civilians reminded me that there is a whole other world outside of these walls. It felt good to be noticed, even when it was only slightly. I just did PT, we did legs today. Fickling scored 300 on Pt test=perfect and is training Geary and I.Hes helping Geary bulk up and helping me get cut. I really need to shower..lol..I love you all..Mom, Dad, Nick, Cindy, Brenda, Amber and Mike and Mandy..And anyone else taht reads this. More tomorrow. Shower time..Meoww