Chapter 1


August 11th, 2008
First day of school, it was worse than I expected for my senior year. My teachers have already given me homework. On the FIRST DAY! Everyone was all excited, I have no idea why, first days are the worst. The only day of the year I’m ever excited for is the last one, especially this year’s because I won’t have to come back to this school again. We also had our annual senior assembly in the auditorium too. All they talked about was picking the right college and career. Eww that’s the worst thing to be talking about on the first day. Yeah I know it’s really important think about college but, I have no idea what I want to do. My parents’ want me to become a doctor or a lawyer. Someone who makes a lot of money, but I don’t want to go through like 10 years of school before I can even start making any of that money. I’ve been thinking about maybe becoming an engineer or a car technician. I don’t wanna turn out like my parents; I want to live my own life, not their life. Plus those jobs don’t take as long to start. The one thing I definitely know I want to do is get out of this city. Philadelphia is one of the worst cities in the country. I want to move somewhere nice, where it’s warm, and where they have good people. Where you don’t hear police sirens every night when you’re trying to sleep. CHS is the only place where I can at least semi get away from everything. Mrs. Galloway said that she’s going to start meeting with every student and talking to them about what career they want to go into and where they want to go to college and a bunch of other stuff that I stopped paying attention to. I hope she doesn’t start with the Z’s and go backwards because I really don’t want to have to talk to her as one of the first people. I’d prefer to be last. I can already tell this is going to be the worst year of my life.



August 15th, 2008
This first week has been hell. All I was able to do when I got home was homework. Every single night this week. I started doing research about possible careers. The military is actually looking like another possibility to my short list of possibilities. I was given a pass for Monday to go to Mrs. Galloway’s office first thing in the morning. I’m really dreading Monday morning. I know she’s going to want to talk about what I want to do with my future. The problem though is I have no clue what I want to do. I’ve at least come up with a few ideas, but I bet she’s not going to like any of my ideas, because I won’t be making much money and I won’t be going to college for at least two of them. I think I might try acting sick come Monday morning.


Chapter 2


August 18th, 2008
Well my plan to act sick was fooled. My younger brother could tell I wasn’t really sick and told my mother. I had to quickly get ready right after that since my bus would be pulling up in front of my house in less than 10 minutes and the only thing I’d changed was my shirt and gotten a glass of water. As I heard the bus pull up I threw on my Phillies hoodie and ran out the door. As the bus pulled up to school I was really tempted to get off and just start walking home as if I was supposed to. Once I walked off the bus immediately Mr. Clancy spotted me and reminded me about going down to Mrs. Galloway’s office. I walked right past him and went to my locker on the second floor of the school building. I have AP Biology first period so I pulled out my laptop from my bag and then grabbed my biology book from the top of my locker. I went around the halls for a while, trying to stall time before the first bell rang. When the first bell rang that meant I had about 3 minutes to get to class or wherever I needed to get; which on this particular day meant down to the basement floor, where all the offices were kept. I slowly drug myself down the stairs to Mrs. Galloway’s office. When I arrived I was surprised to find that she wasn’t there, so I just toke a seat and pulled out Friday’s biology homework and began to finish it. Once I got to the last problem Mrs. Galloway walked in, in a huge hurry. She was surprised to see me there, but got right into what she wanted to talk about. She asked me what I wanted to do with my life, like what career I wanted to look at and where I wanted to go to college. I told her I was looking at car techs and the Marines. She tried to tell me that these weren’t the best ideas for a career. She gave me papers that were supposed to be able to tell her what my best qualities were and what job would suit me best. She asked me to take these papers home and bring them back to her tomorrow. I guess she’s anti-war or something because most people would normally be like that would be a good idea for you.


Chapter 3

August 19th, 2008
I surprisingly did the papers for Mrs. Galloway. I took them back to her today and she analyzed the papers on the computer right after I handed them to her. She read the results off to me; none of them were what I expected them to be. A doctor, lawyer, accountant, CEO, politician, pharmacist, geologist, all very weird selections that I was definitely not interested in. I told her that I wasn’t interested in any of the choices it gave me and that I still wanted to become a car tech or join the military. I hated the choices; they were all like what my parents do. She insisted though that I do one of those choices she gave me. I guess she must be anti-war and college must be a priority for her. Ughh I hate her, she’s the worst.



August 21st, 2008
So, I set up a meeting with a recruiter today. I’ll be meeting with him next Monday the 25th. I can’t wait! The bad part is it’s at 3:30pm and at that time I’m still in school for another 20 minutes. I’m pretty sure Mrs. Callahan will let me leave a little early, but she might not since that’s the same day as our first test in Government. Government is a blow this year. Election year as a senior in Government sucks so bad. We don’t just learn about our government, were also talking about anything and everything to do with the election. But anyway she had better let me leave early. Talking to this guy could mean my future. This is really exciting for me. I don’t think I’ve been this excited in months or even this happy. Just hoping my parents don’t find out about this before I’m able to talk to the recruiter.


Chapter 4

August 25th, 2008
Finally, the day to meet with the recruiter. His name is Staff Sargent Mattis. He seems like a pretty cool guy from the way he sounded over the phone. He said in this first meeting it’ll just be getting to know each other and discussing my options. He also said that the meeting could last a few hours, like until about 5:30 or 6 o’clock. That’s an awful long time to be in one place just getting to know someone and figuring out if the career is right for them. I’m really hoping still that Mrs. Callahan will let me out a little early. I’ll attempt to write a note that’s from my parents and probably just forge their signature. I’ve been forging their signatures for years now, it shouldn’t be that hard. Also the government test looks easy; I’ve already seen a copy of it.



August 25th, 2008(cont.)
Yes, Mrs. Callahan believed the note I made. I just finished meeting with Staff Sargent Mattis. He really is as cool as I believed him to be. We talked and talked for hours, just about our lives. He told me what he was like as a kid before he made the choice to join the marines; he was a horrible kid. He said he’d been arrested at least 4 times before his senior year of high school. By the time we were done discussing about mine and his personal lives it was already 7:30pm. He asked me if it would be alright if he could take me out for some food and we’d finish our conversation. We went to Wendy’s and grabbed a burger. We ate outside so we could have some peace and quiet plus it was a nice night out. He told me that choosing the Marines was a really great option but that it’s also a very tough option because Marines are the toughest out there, and the hardest to get accepted into. I told him I already understood that and that if I could I would leave for Basic now. He told me, well if this is really what I want to do then, I could go ahead and sign my enlistment papers now and head out for Basic at the end of the school year. I was so amazed, but he wasn’t really that serious. He said there were other things I had to do first before I could just sign my papers. I had to pass my MEPS test and the ASVAB. I found out those were the tests that proved if I was physically fit to join and if I was smart enough to join. Ohh crap I don’t think I’ve worked out in at least 6 months, just lying on the couch doing nothing. I need to start working out.


Chapter 5

August 26th, 2008
I started my new training plan today with Sargent Mattis. Today we went for a 3 mile run then did 30 sit-ups and push-ups. After that we ran down to the park, another mile away, and did minute long arm hangs. All of these were way more intense than I expected for the first day, but if I want to pass all the physical requirements for my age the first time I gotta do this. Sargent Mattis signed me up for the ASVAB and MEPS tests once we got back from all the working out. The tests are in 16 weeks. That gives me 4 months to study and get physically fit. I’m considering asking the cross country coach if I can train with them for a little bit, just to help me get in shape quicker.



August 28th, 2008
Yes, the cross country coach said I could train with them! There is a downside though to being able to train with them, the guys team as practice at 4:30AM. I’ve never gotten up that early in my life. I start training with them TOMORROW. I’ve heard from some guys on the team that they run like 15 miles each morning then have abs workouts for an hour, and then hit the weight room for another half hour. This is all in about 3 hours, before school starts. I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to keep up for the next few days at the minimum.


Chapter 6

August 29th, 2008
Ohh gosh I just wanna die now. I never thought cross country was that hard. I’d seen they out there practicing and it didn’t really look that hard, but that could have been just because I was watching the girls’ team practice. I found out today that I’m in horrible shape. I was barely able to keep up with even the slowest guys on the team, freshman. I have to report back to Mattis on Tuesday to show him how much more knowledge and how much more physical ability I have. That means this whole weekend I’m going to be studying. There’s a lot to cover on the ASVAB. Some of the stuff I would have never have thought of even needing to learn about. I know I’m one of the smartest kids at school but like paragraph comprehension, what is that, I’ve never learned that. I’ve got some real studying to do before Tuesday.


Chapter 7

September 2nd, 2008
Today Mattis gave me a practice ASVAB test when I showed up at the office. It was surprisingly easier than I thought. There were only about 40 questions, not nearly as close as how many will be on the actual test. Mattis was able to grade it right then and there. “Congratulations, Daniel you got a 98%, that’s the highest score I’ve ever seen from a new recruit.” Mattis said once he finished grading the practice test. It was pretty amazing. I didn’t actually think I’d do that well. I only had enough time to study Sunday night and a little on Monday night, due to having to continue my training with the cross country team. Cross country is actually going very well now. I’m actually able to keep up know. I’m surprised at myself for only have been practicing with them for four days. The coach told me one morning after practice that I’ve really improved and that he’d love me as an edition to the team. WOW I never thought I’d actually make a sports team. I’m more of the guy who sits back and watches the sport and rarely plays it. So I’m now officially a Pioneer Runner. I got all the swag gear, as they call it. It’s mainly just the team uniform, t-shirt, sweats, cross country spikes, warm-up shoes, and regular team running shoes. It’s crazy how much stuff one person needs just to move their legs in a fast motion. This is crazy how far I’ve come in just like 2 weeks.



September 5th, 2008
I have finally gotten to the proper weight for my age, for the Marines requirements. Now I just have to be able to manage training for the Marines, Cross Country and still keep all my grades at A’s. That is something I will never give up my straight A’s. After this year I’ll probably hold the record for the most A’s in a school career. I even am pressuring myself to get a perfect score on the ASAVAB and the MEPS tests. I’ve never gotten lower than an A- on a paper and never will. On another note, Sargent Mattis said since I’m now at the proper weight and did so well on the practice test, he’s moved my testing date up. It’s now in 2 weeks. Oh crap I don’t think I’m ready for this. That practice test was only like 35 questions, the real one will have like 200 questions on it. This is going to be a crazy next couple of weeks. Cross country, school, studying, sleep and repeat; that will be my week, this week and part of next.


Chapter 8

September 11th, 2008
I finally feel comfortable with all the stuff that will be one the test next week. I feel like I’m going to get an A, even though they won’t actually give me a grade, they’ll just tell me if I passed it or if I failed it. Sargent Mattis told me that next week he only wants me to work out twice before the tests. If I work out more than that I could hurt myself because I would over work myself. That’s going to be rough because I have County meet on Saturday and need to get some good workouts in before then. I’m in varsity, as the number five runner out of the top seven for us.


Chapter 9


September 16th, 2008
Testing day! It went great in my opinion. The doctors that did my MEPS test said I looked great and that was just by looking at me and evaluating me, not all the tests were in. I felt very confidante when I went in the testing room for the ASVAB test. The first part was all Auto shop related questions. That was a wiz, I’ve grown up with my father teaching me about cars and I’ve taken Auto shop in school. The last part was all English and Math related objects. Those were even easier because English and Math have always been my strongest subjects. Over all the day was successful, I got out of school and believe I passed all the tests.



September 20th, 2008
The county meet was earlier today. Congesta came in 2nd place, thanks to our lead runner James Hall. He ran a 16:25, one of his slowest times of the season but he still managed a 2nd place finish in the overall race. I ran my best time of the season, 19:10, but I only managed a 35th place finish. I was hoping for a better time and place, but I still got a medal and new PR for the season. Since we got 2nd place we will move on to All-City championships. Those will be next weekend. On the other hand while I was at the meet Mattis called me. He told me that he received my results and he’s very happy with them. He told me them right then and there I got a 99% on the ASVAB and a perfect score on the MEPS. YES, I achieved my goal. Getting perfect and almost perfect scores on those tests was the biggest thing I could have ever done. Now I just have to wait until my 18th birthday in a few days and I can sign my enlistments papers and head off to Basic Training. But first I have to figure out a way to tell my parents that I’ve made the decision to join the Marines and not follow their path and become a doctor. That this is what I want to do and they can’t change my mind on it.


Chapter 10

September 25th, 2008
Today’s my birthday and I’ve decided to tell my parents at dinner tonight my career choice. I have a feeling that this birthday dinner isn’t going to go as smoothly as normal. I’m really hoping that my brother and sister like the idea and that my parents haven’t brain washed them yet.



September 25th, 2008(cont.)
Well my parents officially hate me. They hate my plan of joining any branch of the military. Their insisting that I apply to medical school or law school and become someone like that. I tried to tell them that I don’t want to become someone like them. Law and medical aren’t my type of thing to do. I always hated science so I’d make a horrible doctor. I didn’t care for law studies, so obviously I would hate law school. They just don’t understand. My brother seemed kind of excited mainly because military means weapons and that’s his favorite thing right now. My sister just wanted to know when her food was coming. They’re both to young right now to understand what it really means to be joining the Marines.
“You really have no say in what I do with my life; I don’t need you to pay for my schooling. I can pay my way if I need to. The Marines pay for my schooling, once I’ve become a Marine.” I shouted at them in the middle of Olive Garden. Almost everyone in the restaurant had turned and were staring at us. I was really embarrassed. Over all I enjoyed turning 18 finally, but having my parents practically disown me I hated that.


Chapter 11

October 2nd, 2008
I’m getting really bad at remembering to write in this thing every day. I don’t think I’ve wrote in here for a couple days, probably about 7 days now. Any ways Staff Sargent Mattis told me in our meeting two days ago that he’d like me to finish this semester then if I think I’m ready to sign my enlistment papers then, he’ll ship me off for Parris Island. I think I’ll be ready by then, but it will just be disappointing to not be able to walk across the stage with the rest of my senior class. I was really looking forward to that, but this is what I really want to do with my life. I really need to get out of this city and away from my family. I don’t think I’ll be writing in here for a few weeks my next one should be in probably November, once it gets closer to finals week and closer to me leaving for Parris Island.



November 21st, 2008
I’m back; it’s been about a month or so. I’m now about 146lbs and have a lot more muscle than I ever thought I would. Sargent really thinks I’m ready. He wants me to sign those enlistment papers now. In 6 weeks I will be shipped off, along with about 50 other guys to Parris Island, South Carolina. I’ve already got by bag packed. All I can take is my toothbrush, a clean white shirt, a pair of tan socks, my papers, and phone numbers/addresses. My training is intensifying this next couple of weeks to make sure I’m completely ready for this. So that means I won’t be able to write anymore until I get to Basic.


Chapter 12

January 3rd, 2009
I’ve now been at basic for about a week. It’s already hell. I hate it here. I’m tempted to quit and just go back to being a normal high schooler. I’ve gotten to use the phone once since I got here. I called Staff Sargent Mattis to let him know I had gotten here and that this place is hell. I told him I want to get out of here.
“No, you will stay the entire 11 more weeks and become a United States Marine!” He forcefully told me.
I agreed with him, I’d made it this far. I needed to continue this, to prove to my family that this is a worthwhile career and that I don’t have to be like them. I only had to last 3 months and I’d officially be called a United States Marine, one of the highest honors in this free country.



March 15th, 2009
I’m 90% though my training. I only have 2 weeks left to go. Coming up in about 2 days we will begin the 54 hour training. It will consist a 15 mile march with my 75lb ruck sack on my back. An obstacle course sort of thing. We’ll have to find check points without being caught by our drill sergeants. All of this plus more with little to no food whatsoever. So that means I won’t be able to write in this until next week.

Chapter 13


March 26th, 2009
So today is parent day. I kind of hope my parents really do show up. I sent them a letter telling them about it a couple weeks ago. I want them here to see how much work I’ve down. I also invited Staff Sargent Mattis to come. Yes, I know its parent day, but he’s like become more like a father figure to me. He actually sent me a letter back, which I was surprised to get, but it said:

Dear Daniel,

I’m so proud of you for making it through these practically impossible twelve weeks of training. I’m so glad to inform you that I will be at graduation. I will be flying down there tonight. I’ve already arranged with your drill sergeant that I will be able to stay with you. Glad to hear from you.




See you soon,



Staff Sargent Christopher Mattis
This was the only letter I got from anyone this whole time I was there. It was the best feeling when the mail guy came around and he actually stopped and handed one to me.



March 27th, 2009
GRADUATION DAY is today. Sargent Mattis arrived late last night. He’s been great company in my room. We only had a couple hours to hang out and talk when he got here, since it was already 2130 hours and it was lights out in 45 minutes. In the morning we had breakfast together, but it was a short one because within 2 hours I had to be dressed and out front of the barracks ready to march over with all the recruits that were finally graduating.
We all marched out together, all the new Marines that is, to the grass area. I was in the last row, due to my last name. I could clearly see Sargent Mattis. He was in the middle row. I looked around for a while looking for my parents. I couldn’t find them. They hadn’t showed. In that moment I felt my heart sink a little. I wanted them to be here. To be proud of me. They could have at least sent a letter back saying they couldn’t make it.



March 27th, 2009(cont.)
You are now reading Private Daniel Wainwrights journal! I just finished packing, Sargent Mattis and I will be heading out later tonight, the last flight of the evening. It’s going to be the best feeling to get on a plane in dress blues just like Sargent Mattis and have everyone else recognize that I’m a United States Marine. It will also be a great feeling to get home and see my whole family. I’m still so pissed off though because my parents never showed. They never even made an attempt to contact me to tell they couldn’t come. They just didn’t show up.


Chapter 14

March 30th, 2009
I got home earlier than expected. It was only about 5pm. I decided to go surprise my brother and sister, since I knew they were home from school. I went to my house first and I was right they both were there, sitting at the kitchen table doing homework. They were so excited to see me, but at first they were kind of scared to hug me or anything. I guess my parents have brain washed them even more. They thought I was someone else not their older brother because I was in a military uniform, not my typical street clothes that their use to. I really enjoyed seeing them. I stayed almost the whole afternoon and just did whatever they wanted to do. At around 7:45pm when my parents arrived home from work, that’s when hell broke loose. My parents hated that I was there. They wanted me out immediately. That meant I had to pack up my stuff and get out of there before they called the cops or something. I headed to a hotel for the rest of my time off before getting stationed somewhere, probably across the country. I tried my best to visit my brother and sister as much as I could. But it seemed as soon as I got back to town I was already getting my orders to report to Camp Pendleton in California. When I got the letter to report there, that’s when it all really sunk in. I’m really a Marine now.
But before I leave I have one last thing to do. I’m gunna go back by my old school and show Mrs. Galloway what I’ve become and that her stupid aptitude test does nothing. It’ll be nice to, to see all my underclassman friends.


April 3rd, 2009
I’m at Camp Pendleton officially. I’ve settled in at the barracks and I really was ready to start training. I still have a day before I could start training. Ohh, I’ve got the urge to fire off a weapon again and just get out there and train. They told me my team I guess it would be called. I’m in the 1st Battalion 1st Marines. I got to meet Lt. Col Craig R. Wonson. He’s a pretty strict guy. He doesn’t seem like he takes any crap, like he wants the job done a certain way and if it’s not done that way the mission has failed. It was weird to because he gave me book title that he wants me to read before my first deployment. It’s called One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer, it’s an autobiography about the Global War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. I never thought I’d have required books to read again, very odd, but I guess it goes with being the best of the best.



April 5th, 2009
Training is amazing. We’ve only been training about 2 days but it’s amazing. I can’t wait to deploy with these guys. I hope we get to deploy really soon. My platoon is the ones that deploy first. So that makes it even better for me. There’s some of the guys that I don’t care for, but there’s like 75 people in my platoon. So I won’t have to worry about them. So far this whole military thing is going amazingly. I just wish my parents would see this to.


Chapter 14

May 10th, 2009
YES. We got our orders today, we deploy in less than 2 weeks. They need us over in Iraq. We’ll be gone for about 7 months. This will be an amazing experience for me. I can’t wait.



May 23rd, 2009
Deployment day. I have to be at the air field at 1200 hours. I will be gone for 5 months, until November. I plan on journaling almost every day, if I can. I might not have the chance to, but I will try my best to. I might be out doing some work out in the field during some days, probably most days. This will be the best “vacation” I’ll ever take.


Chapter 15
November 5th, 2009
Crap, I made it all the way to Iraq and realized I had left my journal on my desk back here, at the barracks. So imma catch up on what I didn’t get to write about. We only went to battle 3 times and it was intense the whole time. I killed 10 people. Which is an impressive number for a Private. Now that were back my commanding officer said he’s recommending me for a higher rank. I got the call to come down to the office in my dress blues. I didn’t know what was going on, so I just followed instruction and went. When I got there, there were 10 people in a room and 2 of them had new patches in their hands. As I got closer I noticed that they were Lance Corporal. I started having a mini freak-out in my mind. I was promoted to LANCE CORPORAL. That’s skipping one whole promotion. This is the best thing ever!


Chapter 16

November 22nd, 2009
Today a new group has been moved in. This time it was a group of girls that had just graduated. When they came into the barracks, I noticed this one girl. She was beautiful, with long brown hair and blue eyes. She was the best looking girl I had ever seen. I waited until they were all settled into their rooms and were wandering about the post. I walked up and just started talking to her. I was surprised that she actually talked to me. I learned that she’s from Illinois and her name is Sarah. Oh my gosh she’s amazing. We’re going to meet up for dinner later, once she’s all settled and a little more used to the idea of this place.


Chapter 17

February 14th, 2010
Sarah is amazing. We’re now in a relationship. It’s been a couple months now. I can already tell she’s the one for me. I can’t wait till we can get off of this post and have a real date. I’ve gotten permission to go off post with her for one night, tonight. We’re going to a local steak restaurant, I’ve heard it’s really good food. I already prepared with the chef that he will personally deliver a piece of cheese cake to her and on the inside there’s going to be a ring. Yes, that means I’m proposing to her tonight. She’s the girl of my dreams and I love her and she loves me. This is the most popular night to do this to; it’s Valentine’s Day, why wouldn’t I use this day.


February 15th, 2010
SHE SAID YES!!!! SARAH SAID YES! As you can tell Sarah said yes last night at dinner. I can’t believe it. I was immediately celebrating in the middle of one of the fanciest restaurants in the state. Everyone in there probably thought I was an idiot or something, but I could have cared less. She said yes. The best thing a guy could ever here from a girl. I just can’t believe it. This whole thing feels like a dream.

Chapter 18

February 16th, 2010
Today, while Sarah and I were walking around post together, she looked me in the eye and told me that there’s a stipulation to her marrying me. I’ll have to stop this journaling thing. She said that it’s something she doesn’t like seeing me do. It turns her off.
She said “I know you love doing those, but it’s just a little weird. I mean for a guy to be keeping a diary. I love reading it. It’s really good. But I just need you to stop doing them.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just told her OK, I’ll stop by the time we set a date for the wedding.


March 1st, 2010
Well Sarah and I have set a date. It’s July 21st, 2011. She said that will be the date from now until then, unless something else comes up and we can’t. I’ll still write behind her back, this is my favorite part of my day, besides coming home to Sarah. Life is like a journey and this is just the beginning of it.