COURT HOUSE – They couldn’t stop grinning. Coast Guard recruits Jason Steinmetz and Ben Sanker were thrilled to eat home-cooked food, watch TV and relax from the rigors of basic training as they spent Christmas Day with the Weiss family as part of Operation Fireside.
Co-sponsored by the American Red Cross South Jersey Region and the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, Operation Fireside links recruits with local families on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Nearly 300 recruits went to about 125 families, many of them first-time hosts like Dr. Richard Weiss and his wife, Dr. Sandra Harmon-Weiss, of this community.
“It’s a start of a new tradition,” said Harmon-Weiss, as she talked about hosting Steinmetz and Sanker. “We realized that we would have a small group at our home for Christmas and we needed a couple of recruits to fill out our table.” Her sister, son, daughter and her husband, and two dogs filled out the rest of the gathering.
Weiss, who is part of the Coast Guard’s Auxiliary, said he was a little apprehensive about the “new experience because there are so many dos and don’ts, like no alcohol, no cigarettes, no driving, no gifts. Then I realized you just need to treat the recruits like family.”
He said the pick-up of recruits at the training center was well-organized. Some of the senior officers welcomed the hosts while waiting in line, and Weiss said the base commander and his wife were inside welcoming hosts as well. “It was a real family affair; everyone was so helpful.”
“I’ve been looking forward to this since Dec. 2 when I found out about it,” said Steinmetz. “I am so looking forward to relaxing from the rigors of training, have a good meal and watch some TV.”
“It’s the halfway point of our training,” added Sanker. “It’s hard to believe that it’s here already. I am extremely thankful to all the families who are hosting recruits today.”
Harmon-Weiss said they “loved the opportunity” to host the recruits. “When we got into the car, we asked them if there was something they wanted first. Jason said he wanted a coffee from Wawa. So we stopped there, and a bunch of other recruits and families were doing the same thing.”
Steinmetz, from Cinnaminson, worked in Brigantine this past summer. “I got coffee from Wawa every day,” he said. “I just love their coffee, and really have missed it during training.”
Both recruits quickly called home upon arriving at the Weiss’ home. “I spoke with Mom, Dad, my grandmother and some friends,” said Sanker, who is from Wadsworth, Ohio. “They were expecting my call, but not sure what time, so they want me to call again later when more of the family will be together.”
“I wrote my parents to tell them about today, and to keep their phone on them,” said Steinmetz. “Then I called them on the house phone and my mother burst into instant tears. It was hard. I talked to them about some of the hard times I’ve experienced in training. I also spoke with my girlfriend, who is home with her family. I try to keep them up to date on what’s going on with me.”
Steinmetz said one of the toughest aspects of basic training is knowing that you will fail at some point. “We’re warned at the beginning that we will fail. But everyone is optimistic that they won’t. You work so hard to get everything right, and then there’s always one little thing that you miss, or get wrong.”
At 22, Steinmetz graduated from York College with a degree in criminal justice. As he was applying for jobs at different police departments, he took a class about the Coast Guard. After talking with a recruiter, he said, “The opportunities and options looked attractive to me. I want to work on a cutter after graduation. We just filled out our ‘dream sheet’ of where we would love to go and I put the Pacific Coast area, Hawaii, California, even Alaska.”
Sanker, 20, wants to make his family proud. “My dad was in the Navy,” he said. “I just want to make my family proud of me.” He hopes to be based in Norfolk, Va. after graduation where he has a lot of family and knows a number of people in the Coast Guard there.
He said one of the toughest aspects of training for him is the attention to detail and the inability to do things of his own free will. “We are so focused on doing things right, listening to what they tell us, learning what we can do, and how we are supposed to do it. Sometimes you miss some detail. I also really miss being able to do things when I want, of my own free will. Like today, once we got into the Weiss’ car, I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. It’s great to be able to do normal things today.”
One of the “normal” things the recruits did was learn each other’s first names, for the first time. “We knew each other’s initials because some of our things have our initials on them, or just our last name,” said Sanker.
“When my mom called me Jason, it really got to me,” added Steinmetz. “It’s really nice to be doing things in a normal manner today.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.
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