Georgia Trip Day 3: Graduation

After another relaxing night of uninterrupted sleep I woke up and got ready for the day's activities.  I drove from my campground up the the National Infantry Museum (NIM).  By this point I knew the roads on Fort Benning pretty well.  The NIM was located just off of the base in Columbus.  I followed my map and was able to drive right there.  

I was about an hour early.  I got a good seat on the top row and pulled out my book.  I am so glad I saved that book to read on this trip.  It kept me very good company during all the waiting I did.  A lady came and sat by me and we talked about our soldiers.  She was there for her son who was in a different company than Brandon.

Eventually it was time for some entertainment.  The Army Band came out and played some songs.  They did some marching, but they also broke loose and played some fun songs too.     

 Then the program started.  It was much more fun than a high school graduation.  They had smoke and gunfire at the beginning.  Then they had a squad come out of the smoke while an announcer talked about how important the infantry is.  The announcer described the duties of each squad member and what kind of weapon they carried.

All the soldiers marched onto the field after that.  Brandon's company is on the right hand side of this picture.  The field itself is really important.  It is seeded with soil from important battlegrounds around the world.  The announcer talked about each battle, but I can't remember them.  

I loved ways they let us know this was important.  I started thinking about how we really do live in such an amazing country - yet how many of us would be willing to die for it.  After watching the graduation I felt very proud to be an American.  I feel like I understand a lot more about why the military is important.  I wish I could adequately describe everything I felt.  The feelings are still a little too new to fully convey them.  Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to do a coherent post about how important it is to believe in our country.

Anyway, back to the play-by-play.  Here's Brandon's company saluting for something.  (This picture along with the other ground level ones is from the company facebook page.)

 Speaking of the facebook page, the lady who maintained ours got an award for "Support Staff of the cycle."  She's in on the end with the blue scarf.  I clapped really hard when she got that award.  I don't know what I would have done without her facebook updates.

And then it was time for all the troops to march around the field.  I'm so glad they didn't take the time to announce everyone's names.  That would have been super boring.  And by this point I was freezing cold even though I was wearing my big red winter coat.  

I filmed some of the ceremony.  I've put it together into a movie for those of you who want to see it.  It's about 9 minutes long.  The first minute is the most interesting though.  Enjoy.

The troops marched off the field and then everyone in the stand followed them.  We milled around and tried to catch a glimpse of our soldiers while they got their picture taken as a company for one last time.  Actually I did't try to see Brandon.  I can't pick him out of a crowd of people wearing the exact same clothes.  I just made myself very visible and hoped he'd find me.  Which he did.  He'd actually been able to see me and my big red coat the whole time he was on the field (which was one reason I'd worn it)

Taking pictures was the last thing he had to do.  The Drill sergeants let the men go and they were FREE!  Well sort of.  Some had to go get on buses and drive to the airport to go to their next unit right away.  Others could go straight home.  And others, like Brandon, had a few days off until they had to be back at Fort Benning to await reassignment.

We took a few minutes and went inside the NIM to look around.  They had lots of displays about soldiers and their gear throughout the different wars.  Brandon had been here as part of basic training.  He showed me his favorite displays. (Most of them involved the infantry's interaction with airplanes.)

One of my favorite parts of the graduation was when all the soldiers recited The Soldiers Creed.  I didn't get a video of it, so I wanted a picture of Brandon next to the words he said.

After that we went to eat at Wendys.  Brandon has missed fast food. Actually, he's missed regular food in general.

Brandon had spent the most of the previous night cleaning.  He and the other soldiers had made up their bunks for the next round of guys and then slept on the floor.  And they only slept for about 2 hours.  He was very tired and I could tell.  So after lunch we just went back to the cabin and took a LONG nap.

Sometime during the afternoon Brandon got a call on his phone from someone who had found my cell phone on one of the Army buses that took the guys to the airport.  We have no idea how my phone got there. I knew I'd misplaced my phone, but I thought it was in the cabin somewhere. The guy got my address said he would mail it back to me.  Crazy stuff.  

Anyway, we spent the rest of the day hanging out in the cabin.  I showed Brandon pictures from the last three months.  He showed me his yearbook with pictures of things he did. (Once Brandon is home I'll post some of the pics and any stories that go with them).

And that night we finally got to go to sleep in the same bed.  It was so nice to not be alone.