Editor's Note: From the home front to the front lines, we're following one recruit's journey in our American Morning original series "A Soldier's Story." Today, in part four, our Jason Carroll checks in with Will McLain's family to find out what they think about the stress and time away from home. Tomorrow, we look at Will's training and get his feelings about deployment as it draws closer.
By Jason Carroll, CNN
So far, much of the focus of our series has been on Will McLain's impressions and experiences.
Now, we turn the camera in a different direction to get his parents' point of view of what it’s like to have a recruit in the family for the first time.
“Hey Mom and Dad, how are things going at home? I hope well,” Will's letter reads.
Nearly every time Laurie McLain reads a letter from her son, Will – or Junior as they call him at home in Rosamond, CA – it’s hard for her not to become emotional.
“I love you guys and I'll talk to you when I can. Love Junior."
The letters come from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where new recruit Will has been at boot camp for the past nine weeks.
From the beginning, we have followed him through his training, chronicling his toughest challenges.
His parents say they've seen the impact military service is having on Will. There's the physical transformation. They saw it when Will was home on holiday leave. But it's his letters, they say, where they see the most striking change in him.
“William's never been a person to pour his emotions out. He's always held them in and been strong and now he doesn't so much as pour his emotions in as he’s wondering what the rest of us are all doing and how we're getting along without him,” says Lori McLain, Will’s mother.
Will's father, Bill McLain, says his son is no longer the young 18-year-old who left home. He has had to grow up in a matter of weeks.
“He's never been farther than Rosamond, you know what I'm saying, and now he's clear across the country with nobody to bail him out, so he has to do it on his own.”
And along with pride, come the concerns with every passing day as Will comes closer to learning whether his next step from boot camp will lead to war.
“You gotta do what you gotta do, they'll send him wherever and he'll survive it,” says Bill. “There is nobody that wants his child to go to war, but I mean this is something we're fighting for.”
Will should get his orders for deployment in just a few weeks. He still has some specialized training to complete. Tuesday on American Morning, we take a look at that training and get Will's feelings about deployment as it draws closer.