When Hurricane Rita happened, I was just about to graduate from the School of Infantry in Camp Pendleton, CA. I had just spent eight weeks with these guys and was training with them everyday. Towards the end of our training, the \"grunts\" learned that they were soon to be assigned to their units when they graduate. In our training company, Bravo Co, their were a total of three of us that were not going to different units because we were LAV Crewman, Light Armored Vehicle. This meant that we were to stay an extra six weeks to be trained for our jobs. We heard rumors that certain units were to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan a week after our graduation and those who were assigned to those units were to go over. This news made some Marines either anxious or nervous to finally join their units. I felt very nervous for my brothers that faced the possibilty of losing their lives. However, just a few days before our graduation, it was announced over the news that there will be certain units deployed to the affected areas that Hurricane Rita hit for relief. Again the rumors sprang that the units that my boys were going to be sent to were to go to relief area rather than the Middle East. When we finally graduated, everyone packed and waited for their bus to go to their respective units, while the three of us who were to attend LAV school waited to pick up with the next class. I never found out whether or not they were sent to the Middle East or not, but I hoped that they did so that they are that much safer. Fortunately, whenever I look up the casualty list for the war, I have yet to find any names that I recognize from Bravo Co.