My nephew Zach made it through basic training. He graduates on Friday but today his mom, Gloria, and I attended the Turning Blue Ceremony.
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Commander Beachman opened the shindig with a slide presentation. I'd call it a briefing but when it comes to the military, briefings are a misnomer. Still, there was standing room only at the family orientation.
I met a man from Pennsylvania who had two sons graduating. One was 27 and the other 29. He said he wouldn’t have been so surprised if they had done this out of high school, but it’s different when they are older. The economy is lending to the upsurge in recruitment.
It isn’t affecting the number of hats people are buying, however. I saw several women wearing hats today.
But take my word for it, this last gal? It wasn’t her hat that everyone was staring at. Especially those troops who hadn’t seen a girl for 10 weeks. At Sand Hill, there isn’t a girl in sight, except the cashiers at the PX.
The Cmdr. said the Turning Blue Ceremony signified the move from recruit to the Infantry. He said the training of previous generations was inadequate, but now the military has seen the errors of their ways and are now acting as “coaches, teachers and mentors” and turning out “products” “Mules” “House” & a “weapon system” that knows how to “destroy the target.”
The Cmdr. noted that there had been “a lot of injuries to lower extremeties” due to the intense training. I translated that for Gloria: “That means he busted their balls.”
As the Cmdr. continued to give a detailed explanation of all the ways these boys had become men in the past 14 weeks, men capable of taking the lead in battle, I walked outside and noticed this sign which tickled me. So, let me get this straight. These men, the ones who are going to fight the war on terror, have to have a sign to remind them not to hurl lugis in public? Shouldn’t they have learned that in first-grade? I’m just saying…
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Other than all that it was a very moving ceremony. Gloria began to weep soon as she saw her boys. I made friends with a couple of little girls, one knick-named Tater Head who stood up during the ceremony and yelled out in her loudest 3-year old voice, “HEY CHRISTOPHER.” And another, Abgail, who came dressed to the hilt with matching purse and all for her brother’s ceremony.
It was very sweet. All of it. We are all proud of Zachary for making it through Basic Training.
Is that the best spit-shine you could manage, Son?
Gloria got to put the blue cord on her boy.
Abigail brought along her beautiful purse to her brother’s ceremony.
And what kind of Infantryman would let a woman walk in heels across a muddy field? Here, Miss, lemme give you a hand with that.
Karen,
This is a great story and I’m forwarding it to my son who was in the Army for 5 years and now is a nurse at the Veteran’s Hospital in Tampa, FL.
PS- I read your book, Hero Mama, a few years ago – loved it.
Karen, wow! My goodness! That last woman should have spent her money on a slip instead of a hat. Nice pics. of the service. Hope you have a great trip!
Spit shine? Hmmmm. About the time I took my discharge the military was transistioning away from real leather low quarters and going to what was then known as Corfam. It came out of the box all shiny and was scuff-proof. But all my shoes and combat boots were real black leather–and they did have to shine. Both of my brothers were in Army National Guard for eight years showed me how, so I had a head start in basic. I still have my low quarters. I was married in them 38 years ago. They looked real nice against my tux. You wouldn’t have wanted to be married in uniform then. In fact, it was prohibited since you weren’t on duty.
Also, nobody attended “graduation” from basic back then. You got your promotion and travel orders, one stripe and packed your duffel for the next assignment. When service was mandatory, nobody thought about actually trying to win the hearts and minds of families. Nobody cared. Times have changed, and I’m happy for those serving today to see it.
Roger: I have been doing a lot of thinking over the past few days about your last graph. I have some thoughts about that that might surprise you and the rest of my readers.
Care to share those thoughts? They probably don’t have to do with shoes…
Further on mine: On the one hand, it’s good to make military service a bit more real to people–which it already is to anyone who has flesh and blood marching with the troops (it’s the folks with no connection who ought to be there). On the other hand, we also don’t want to make it seem like getting your Eagle Scout award or graduation from HS or college. These are people not preparing for peacetime service but for war. Some will die. That’s something to take seriously and honor but not glamorize.
I also think about how much farther “away” overseas duty once was than now. No cell phones, skype or e-mail back then. No satellite TV. No computer or Internet, Facebook, Twitter, Flick’r. Jean and I did not talk on a phone for nearly three years. Never flew back to the States on R&R. A half dozen cassette tapes over the span but not even any 8mm movies. We wrote letters that took a week to arrive, but our apartment was 15 miles from our mailbox. We really were AWAY. No way our families could not be hit with the reality and the weight of it.
I am still processing but I’d love for you to write something about these things you’ve mentioned in this last graph and I’ll let you guest post it to my blog.Interested?
I’d be rightly honored, ma’am. That’s an offer no sane person would refuse.
My son wil be graduating on October 23rd. I believe that is the date of the turning blue ceremony with the full graduation on Friday.
Did you recieve information regading “hard times” (exactly where to be a where)? If not, is there a forum to find this information?
My neice, whose son just graduated from Airforce BT, found out, through an internet chat, that the time of the “air mans” had been moved up an hour. Had she not not seen that they would have missed this very important right of passage.
I would love your input.. please email me.
Christy