To those not on facebook...I have posted the following and re-post it here:

We got a call from David this morning. He was injured at the firing range pulling targets. His thumb got caught in the ropes and severed it. One of the ambulance personnel was kind enough to let David use his phone. He was on his way to Mission Viejo,CA to a civilian hospital. All we can do is wait to see the outcome of this. He wants so bad to graduate with his platoon. From his letters it sounds as if they have bonded as a tight group. They have won many trophies and are given a lot of privliges. He believes his platoon will graduate with honors.
I will update this as we get more info.

Hope all is well and he is able to graduate with his platoon.

Updating David's condition. Just got off the phone with David and he's doing good. He is in recovery from surgery. Doctor said his thumb was not severed and little damage to the bone. No pins required. He will be shipped back to recruiting depot in a few hours to marine rehabilitation where the naval doctors will decide if or when he gets to return to his platoon. The only thing David is happy about is that he got to eat a normal meal and that he's cramming in all the food he can before he leaves the hospital. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers that he will be able to go back to his platoon. We don't want all his hard work to go to waste.

Been following along on Facebook. Glad he is doing ok.


Are YOU ok?

Glad he's OK! Hope everything turns out for him.

^ yeah, but there is a difference...I re-read what I wrote after I posted it, then changed it accordingly. I just didn't leave for you all to guess what I was saying.

good to hear he should be ok. hope he can continue with the platoon...

I'm glad he is ok.

I'm glad he's ok and i hope they can look past it and let him join his platoon again.

It has been 5 days since i made the original post. In that time we not been officially notified of David's injury by the Marines. Tammy and I were discussing this morning that he is 5 weeks from graduation (Feb. 10). If they have decided to do push him back or boot him we would have been notified by David or his SSDI. Our time frame to buy airline tickets for his graduation in San Diego is growing shorter. As of right this moment, we feel they have sent him back to his platoon.

hope it all works out ok

Hope things work out for him. Sending positive thoughts your way!

Putting some closure on this thread. Heard from David today. He will be pushed back approximately 5-6 weeks. He is in MRP (Marine Rehab Program). He has to wait for the next Alpha platoon to catch up to where he was when he got injured. Physically he is healing, but mentally he is depressed that he will not rejoin his platoon and his friends. We also got a full description of his injury. He did sever his thumb at the top joint.The only thing holding his thumb together was a small flap of skin. It was not on his target that he was pulling, but rather on the target next to his. Pulling targets is like a guillotine. When you pull up one target another goes down. He tripped and reached out to catch himself and his hand landed on his neighbors target as the other recruit was pulling it down. And it tore off the top portion of his thumb. Please send him your good thoughts and prayers. He needs all the support he can get.

that sucks, but those guys are all in it together for the same goal. I'm sure he will make friends with the new platoon fast. just as us car guys have enough in common to meet new people here and at shows, common ground makes it easier.

I'm not very religious but i can wish him the best.