By YM/PFC Aaron Coffenberry Northern Kentucky (KY) At the last drill I attended, we had a guest speaker talk to us from the Foxfire Foundation. She was spreading the message to us about the horrors of the effects of drugs. Her name was Carol Wagner. She had a son who had died of a heroin overdose. When she spoke, I could hear in her voice that she needed America to hear her story, and her lesson. I had never really known how families who had lost people to drugs felt until Mrs. Wagner spoke to us and told us of her emotions, and pain. Her job was to send a message to America’s youth that drug addiction is a deadly disease. She helps families and those in need to learn about the costs of addiction. Hearing her story and perspective has re- ally helped me to understand that people who are addicted have a real disease and that people can face challenging struggles to make things change. Guest Speaker Delivered a Serious Message About Drugs By YM/Pvt Riley Johnson-Crow Yuma (AZ) Our unit went to Flagstaff,AZ to Flagstaff Adventure Course. We started at 1700 at Walmart. We stopped half way there at a convenience store and did warmup exercises (pushups, jumping jacks and arm circles) then traveled the other half until we were at Fort Tuthill County Park.We started a headcall and took showers and got cleaned up. We had spent the night then next morning ate breakfast, and went to Flagstaff Extreme Ad- venture Course. We were ziplining at Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course. We went around the kids course twice (you had to be bigger to ride on the adult zipline). We then sat outside and ate lunch. Then we got up and drove to the lava tubes. It was 1 mile deep, so in total we hiked 2 miles. After that, we drove to the Montezuma Castle, where we had a tour all the way around the National Park. We came back to Fort Tuthill County Park and ate dinner and went to bed. The next morning after breakfast, we hung out a little, ate lunch and headed back home to Yuma. We ended up back at Walmart, where we had started out from. I went home and next Wednesday I graduated from recruit training with 3 ribbons to proudly start my Young Marines career. I was the only one of 4 recruits to get promoted. Yuma: Our Adventure in Flagstaff By YM/Cpl Michael Manley Atlantic Coast (FL) The Unit Commander of the Atlantic Coast Young Marines, Ms. Gibbons, recently celebrated her birthday. Instead of go- ing out to do something fun, she spent her birthday at Junior Leadership School with Young Marines (she always puts the Young Marines before herself!). Ms. Gibbons does everything for us. We couldn’t let her birthday go by without showing her how much we appreciate her, so we surprised her at her home. When she came home from JLS, we were hiding in her house (thank you to our XO, Gunnery Sgt Michael Vicente for helping us get in and hide us). When Ms. Gibbons arrived at home there was a maze set up to lead her to the garage. When she opened the door the Young Marines and their families that were hiding all yelled surprise. Her face turned so red! Then each Young Marine brought flow- ers to give her and we presented them one by one. We had pizza, cake and so much fun (as we always do when we are together.) We just want everyone to know how great our Unit Commander is, and how lucky we are to have her. Happy Birth- day, Ms. Gibbons! ACYMs: Wishing Happy Birthday to Our Unit Commander Recruits practice teamwork and prepare for their overnight TORCH (Training of Re- cruits Challenge) . Some even ran into Mr. Lincoln at the Civil War Re Enactment. --Submitted by YM/GySgt Luke Smith, Division 6 Public Affairs Correspondent Recruits Practice Teamwork 8 YOUNG MARINES ESPRIT