Hey Babe,

It is about 10 PM (2200) and I just got done starching my cover for inspection and ironing my cammies. Inspection isn't for another two days, but now I am almost ready.

I got my second squad evaluation back today and I am still rated 1st out of 13. In my brief with Captain Johnson he said that he has no worries about me and I am on track to graduate. That is good to hear... and I aced my third test in a row today. I am on my way I guess.

Today it rained all day and we were out in it freezing our butts off doing MCMAP and bear crawls around the entire muddy PT field. Kind of fun, but very cold and dirty.

We have a land navigation test in the woods tomorrow and you know how I am with directions. We'll see about that one.

I think about you and the girls constantly. On Monday the only thing I can think of is Saturday afternoon and your and Bryna's voice. She just blew me away last weekend while talking to her. She is so big. It is hard to believe she was ever so small.

We did the Quigley this week too. It wasn't that bad. The worst part was one confirmed snake and a bunch of little fish with whiskery-looking things. Didn't quite look like a catfish, but some ugly cousin of the catfish. It was pretty exhausting though. It took about 35 minutes to go through the entire course. There were 16 obstacles, including the Quigley.

Well, the rack is calling my name.

I love you all very much and will talk to you before you get this letter.

----LOVE----

Dad/Adam/Devil Dog

The lovely couple - Mr. and Mrs. Doring

The girls plus half of mom.

Capt. Lisa Doring, Brooke Doring, Gena

The cousins - Gabe, Nick, Gena

The Plummer House - lovely.

Hey Girl,
Hmm ---- every single day here is a struggle to keep my sanity. Everything that I have worked for in the Marine Corps is gone. I am just the "fat one" of the platoon. Kind of funny, I guess.

Anyway, time goes so slow here. I am thinking about you girls and home way too much. Part of me prays everyday that something will happen to send me home. But that is just the part of me that wants to be home.

I really do want to finish my training here, it is just the hardest thing that I have done in my entire life!!!

We have church on Sunday, which is really good but makes me sad. And then we also have a praise and worship here on Thursday nights. Last Thursday, I got a book called "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. You have probably heard of him. He is a pastor in MInneapolis.

I have only gotten one letter from you so far and today is Sunday the 7th. I need to read your words soon. How are Bryna and Livia? Tell them that they make me so proud and happy. I miss all of Bryna's smart conversations and Livia's sweet observations.

It tears me up to be away from you again so soon. I am wondering about TBS - pray whether or not we should be together during that time. i know there are a lot of logistics involved in that consideration, and it would not be a permanant duty station yet. And I still have to make it through all these tests and physical test. I will be only through GOD if I can make it for seven and a half more weeks.

I have to study now. We have a 4 mile hump with full packs tomorrow. Hope it isn't too bad.

Love you, Gena, Bryna, Livia.....

DAD!!

Hey Babe- thought I would write you a quick note before I rack out for the night. What a long day. Man!! I had to get up at 0245 for firewatch and then had a lot of candidates asking questions about drill and stuff because today was a billet change.

So I am no longer guide.... well that is half true because I am still the drill guide. We did a lot of drill today and it was very hot out. We also had a longer PT this morning. We ran four miles at the instructors pace with about 13 exercises thrown in. I am sorry for my spelling...I am just trying to get it on paper before I pass out. Ha!!

But we do get our first liberty in a week and a half. Some of the guys have their wives and kids coming into town to see them. I am so jealous of them. They are both Staff Sargeants in the corps already.

My kill hat started calling me Lance Criminal today. Kinda funny. We will see if he keeps it up.

My new watch fell out of my foot locker and landed face down on the deck. It broke! I was pretty bummed out.

I might try to split a cab ride and a hotel room with one of the guys in my platoon - we'll see. But you better be holding that phone in your hand when I call you. And the girls better be there too!

I could write a lot about the pain in my chest from missing you and the girls, but it will probably only make it worse. Just know that I am thinking about you all the time and can not wait to get back to hold all of you! I think TBS is going to be harder than we thought being away for that long. Kisses and hugs to all - LOVE YOU!!! Adam (Daddy)

L.A. disc jockey loved heavy-metal music

Tawn Mastrey, a Minneapolis native who achieved fame in California, was known as the Leather Nun.

By Ben Cohen, Star Tribune
Last update: October 06, 2007 – 6:34 PM

Tawn Mastrey, a Minneapolis native and disc jockey who rocked Los Angeles and Minneapolis, possessed a gifted voice and a passion for helping aspiring radio personalities.
Mastrey, 53, who in recent years worked as a DJ from her Edina home for Sirius Satellite Radio, died on Tuesday in Minneapolis of liver failure from hepatitis C.

Mastrey was famed in heavy-metal circles; her nickname was the Leather Nun.

"She was definitely one of the iconic rock jocks of all time. She was known worldwide," said Remy Maxwell of Hopkins, who worked with Mastrey at Minneapolis' 93X and Los Angeles' old KNAC.

Mastrey grew up in Minneapolis and Mankato. After finishing high school in Mankato, she hitchhiked to California, where she went to broadcasting school in Modesto.

Right out of school, she snagged a DJ job in San Jose. From the 1970s to the 1990s, she worked up and down the West Coast, notably at Los Angeles' KNAC and Pirate Radio-KQLZ, said Maxwell.

"She had a very conversational, off-the-cuff style, one of the greatest female radio voices I have ever heard," Maxwell said.

Motley Crue, Ratt, Guns N' Roses, Great White and Poison are only a few of the heavy metal bands whose members were her friends.

"She had a hand in getting them signed" to record deals, Maxwell added.

He said that Mastrey helped him greatly in his career. "To move to L.A., listen to her show religiously, and end up being one of her best friends was very surreal to me."

Mastrey wrote and produced the "Sammy Hagar Cabo Wabo Happy Hour," a radio broadcast that was syndicated around the nation in 2006.

She also worked in documentaries and other films, serving as the expert on heavy metal when interviewed on video, Maxwell added.

Her sister Cara, of Minneapolis, said Mastrey, the second-oldest child in the family, was the leader when her siblings worked at their parents' Minneapolis restaurant, Mama Rosa's, in the 1960s and 1970s.

Growing up, she brought new and more sophisticated recordings home to her sisters.

"She was the coolest sister in the world, and she was caring and nurturing," said Cara Mastrey.

Seven years ago, TawnMastrey came home, "tired of the L.A. scene, becoming ill," said her sister. When she got here, "she rocked this town," she said.

In addition to Cara, she is survived by her mother, Jo Hiner of Minneapolis, and three other sisters, Liese Doring of Mankato, Jilda Mastrey of Minneapolis and Mia Moyad of Ann Arbor, Mich.

Services were held Saturday.

Ben Cohen • bcohen@startribune.com

© 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

Hey Babe,

Does this paper look familiar? Well here I am.....wow.....we never (double underlined) stop. I get 3 1/2 - 4 hours of sleep a night if I am lucky. I had two nights in a row with 1 hour of sleep. It is not fun running a 3 mile station course with an instructor hauling butt.

Anyway, it is a lot like boot camp - eat fast, speaking in the 3rd person... It's just that everything moves a lot faster and it is a lot more physical. Right now I am guide, but it is a rotating position. I am sorry that I have not written more. I am really looking forward to two weeks from now when I can call you and talk to you for hours while eating a pizza. Haha.

I have two tests and PT at 0500 tomorrow, so I am going to let you go. My shoulder and everything is good for now. I just have really sore bones all of the time.

Tell Bryna that I hope her party was good. I miss all of you more than you know. You all melt my heart when I think about you. Take care of everyone.

I love you all sooooooo much!!!

Adam

SEMPER FI!!

Please be in prayer for our family today. My aunt Tawn Mastrey (my mother's sister) passed away last night as a result of end-stage liver failure. It was a tragic, drawn-out end. She will be missed.

Tawn's Website

Tawn's Blog

Letter #2

Wow. This is just how I knew it would be. It is the second day, the 23rd - I was up at 0400 and it's not 2130 (9:30 PM) with little hope in sight. Lights are on at 0345 tomorrow.

It's now the next day. I am beat and ready to come home and haven't done anything yet.

I love you so much. Candidate Disney

------

Hey Girl,

This is the only paper I have on me right now (waterproof notepad) It is 4Pm on the 25th. We finally got a little more sleep last night. We ran our IPFT today and I didn't do as well as I wanted to, but I still passed. I did only 86 sit ups, 14 pull ups, and 22:02 run. Now we have been sitting in this room for about 2 hours waiting to get our hair cut. I have a lot of doubts if I am going to make it through or not. People break all the way into the 9th week here. There is no guarantee that you will make it until you walk across that parade deck. I will do my best and see what happens. I think you will be getting a lot of little short notes due to time and fatigue.

LOVE YOU!!

Me again. It is after chow now and they are keeping us up just to keep us up. We are doing nothing but sitting and trying not to fall asleep. Pick-up day is tomorrow. That is when the fun starts. I keep looking at the picture of you and the girls tyring not to think too hard.

Love you. HI Bryna!! Hi Livia!! LOVE YOU GIRLS!!