Today was Tuesday... Day 14 of Training, Day 22 Since Silver Hatches

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Parris Island, South Carolina:  Sara's bayonnetting skills have been put to the test as she fought for the second time with pugil sticks*...this time on a wooden bridge about 2.5 feet above the ground.  Her fighting bouts are the extreme demonstration of her offense and defense skills requiring skill, balance, and strength.

Pugil sticks, self preservation, more martial arts skills, and how to evacuate for a casualty marked the training on todays schedule.  Of course, drill drill drill. (The sounds, sights, and smells, that are a part of these days will never be forgotten.)

Sara has been learning the laws of warfare.  I copy below a description of what she is learning and why.

"Law of Land Warfare – The Law of Land Warfare is that part of the Laws of War applicable to the conduct of warfare on land (territory) and to relationships between belligerents and neutral states. The conduct of armed hostilities on land is regulated by the law of land warfare which is both written and unwritten.  Marines follow the Law of Land Warfare on the battle field. The Law of Land Warfare is inspired by the desire to diminish the evils of war by:

• Protecting both combatants and noncombatants from unnecessary suffering;
• Safeguarding certain fundamental human rights of persons who fall into the hands of the enemy, particularly prisoners of war, the wounded and sick, and civilians; and
• Facilitating the restoration of peace."

Sara has learned by now the Code of the U.S. Fighting Force.  This code of conduct  is an "ethical guide" and 6 article DOD directive addressing how U.S. personnel in combat should act when they must "evade capture, resist while a prisoner or escape from the enemy."

Notably, the code prohibits surrender except when "all reasonable means of resistance [are] exhausted and...certain death the only alternative," The code requires captured Americans to "resist by all means available" and "make every effort to escape and aid others."  It also outlines proper conduct for American prisoners of war, reaffirms the Geneva Conventions guidelines for prisoners of war, and requires that under interrogation captured military personnel should "evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability."

What an education my Marine recruit is getting.  She will have earned the title and wear it with pride.

And you can bet, I will wear the tee-shirt!!

*Three letters came from Sara today... she made it through the teeth extraction very well.  We huddled at lunch and read page after page written during post surgery light duty (which of course Sara despised) .... letters getting shorter due to increased drill during "free time".
 
"Most wonderful family of mine! Today we did pugil sticks! Our first time! I just got word that they (chief DI, SDI and SSgt Wysote) were talking about me a little bit after I fought!  Apparantly I kicked some bootay and blew my cover, haha, RCT S------s is no longer invisible :b  whoops!  haha! and I even had stitches in my mouth! lol I guess I needed to relieve some stress, eh? :) "

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