A Mom's Love For Her Son, A Persistent Soon-To-Be Marine

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — If you've ever been to military basic training, most of us get support from our moms through letters and the prayers they say at night.

A 19-year-old St. Petersburg man currently in Marines boot camp is getting extra support from his mom in his final hours of the 54-hour crucible every recruit must endure before they earn the U.S. Marine emblem and title.

The crucible starts on a Thursday morning at 2 a.m., and ends Saturday morning. Marine Recruit Douglas Collins, son of St. Petersburg mom and third-degree black belt Kinney Karate instructor, Sonja Leone, 44, is in the middle of his crucible as this article is being written. The recruits walk more than 45 miles during this challenge and get very few hours of sleep. They also have limited meals.

"He always wanted to challenge himself physically and mentally," Leone told Patch. "He went back and forth with different ideas but ultimately he wanted the physical and mental challenge, and he felt the Marines offered that."

Leone created "Walk for Douglas Crucible" here in St. Pete to send her son and his fellow recruits strength when their mind and body were in the final hours of finishing. The walk took place dark and early Saturday at 5:30 a.m. She and supporters of Collins met at in the parking lot in between Northshore Aquatic Park and Gazelle Park just before 5:30 a.m. The plan for Leone and the walkers was to walk the last 5 miles of the Crucible with Collins' company spiritually.

One of the personal challenges Collins first faced at boot camp was the repetitiveness. He wrote in a letter to his mom that he found that boring. Collins is a second-degree black belt so he already went into training with the kind of listening mentality some recruits lack at the beginning. It was hard for him to understand why his fellow recruits pushed back on their drill instructors instead of immediately following commands without question.

"He started karate when he was nine," Leone said. "It really took him out of his shell. It brought him into his own focus. He excelled as an athlete and academically after that. He was top of his high school graduation at Gibbs High School Pinellas Performing Arts."

The soon-to-be Marine graduated in May 2020. It was a disappointing time for him and other Pinellas County graduates who didn't get to experience the traditional ceremonies because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Collins took the Marines oath right after he graduated. He was supposed to ship out in August. He continued his training over the summer, and Mama Bear Leone continued to prepare to say goodbye to her youngest with some cries here and there. When they said the goodbyes at the recruiting station then, a change in plans occurred. The recruiter told them they needed additional paperwork for an injury Collins had when he was a kid.

A disappointed Collins and Leone put in the request for the requested medical papers, which took twice as long as normally to get because of....you guessed it, delays caused by the pandemic. His next ship date was planned for January 2021. This was it. He was really going to Parris Island, South Carolina, to become a Marine in 13 weeks.

His parents dropped him off at the Marine recruiting station in Seminole for him to leave. Deja Vu. The Marines had one package of his approved but the other one wasn't approved yet, according to Leone. His ship date was delayed again. The recruits saw Collins' persistence and determination and promoted him to guide. As a guide, he showed up to the recruiting station six days a week and helped potential recruits exercise and lose weight so they could go to boot camp. He trained them for four months.

"Most people at this point would have given up," Leone said. "You had to leave twice, and at this point you're taking on more responsibility."

Said Leone:"I kept telling him God's got a reason. Maybe your reason for not going in is because these people need you. I don't know why but in His timing and when His timing comes, it'll happen."

God's timing came around May 9. They got the phone call Saturday morning, May 8, that everything was approved, and that he was shipping out in 26 hours, which was Mother's Day. Collins and his Lima and Oscar companies spent the first two weeks in quarantine. They will graduate from their 13 weeks of basic training Aug. 20.

Collins is going to work in communications while in service, and he would also like to instruct martial arts in the Marines. He'll also turn 20 this coming week in basic training.

"Last summer was really hard for me emotionally. When January came, I choked up a couple times. But I was good when he left this time because I knew he was ready since he'd been preparing for this for so long. I soaked up every bit of knowledge I could. Every Facebook page, every Youtube video. By the time it finally happened, I was happy for him to finally see this go through."