And it is Sunday. First thing this morning, a memorial service for classmates no longer with us was held in the hotel. Pastor Bill, a member of the group had planned it and provided the candles, altar, music. When he read remarks Munn had written before arriving, he asked him to give the message and Munn did. It was very moving and the guys want copies of it. Candles were lit and placed on the altar by a member of the class as each name was read. Several members of the class participated in the readings.
Many of us could not really speak immediately following as it was so moving. More than one Marine choked on his words at the pulpit. Not a dry eye at some points. A long time coming for these men to do this together and experience healing. Eleven of their number were killed during the war.
There is a plan to do this again in 5 years. I don't think any of them wants to let go of what they experienced. Several said it was just the sense of being together again that was important to them whether they all knew each other or not and many did not know one another. To steal a phrase, for a few days they were a Band of Brothers.
Amen.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Day Four - the Dinner
Saturday was really a day for ourselves. Since we had not arrived back at the hotel until close to midnight, those that could slept in. Munn and I hung around at the hotel for the morning and then headed to Fredericksburg and the University of Mary Washington, my Alma Mater. Such a beautiful campus! And so much has changed and yet stays the same. We also drove around Fredericksburg which is a beautiful historic town. We were on quite a treasure hunt to find the apartment complex I lived in while Munn was in Vietnam! The streets have been reconfigured and a whole highway inserted, so that was a challenge but finally got there.
Back to the hotel to spiffy up and get ready to head back to the beautiful National Marine Corps Museum for dinner. The Marines transported us in big yellow school buses and Peg who was a kindergarten teacher for 20 years threatened to sing The Wheels on the Bus. The tables were set up in the main hall underneath that dramatic glass peak and among some realistic displays. We even got to see lightning display itself while we were there. The widow of one of the classmates and her 39 year old daughter from NYC sat at our table. He died 7 years ago of lung cancer and we were so glad she came! The General in charge of the museum and his wife were our guests. The speaker was the former Commandant of the Marine Corps, Jim Jones, who went through TBS a few months after our guys. Munn gave the Invocation. General Jones spoke of the servant leadership and the humility of the Marine officer among other things - a good message. Tables were lovely, food and wine were good, friendship around the tables abounded.
Back to the hotel to spiffy up and get ready to head back to the beautiful National Marine Corps Museum for dinner. The Marines transported us in big yellow school buses and Peg who was a kindergarten teacher for 20 years threatened to sing The Wheels on the Bus. The tables were set up in the main hall underneath that dramatic glass peak and among some realistic displays. We even got to see lightning display itself while we were there. The widow of one of the classmates and her 39 year old daughter from NYC sat at our table. He died 7 years ago of lung cancer and we were so glad she came! The General in charge of the museum and his wife were our guests. The speaker was the former Commandant of the Marine Corps, Jim Jones, who went through TBS a few months after our guys. Munn gave the Invocation. General Jones spoke of the servant leadership and the humility of the Marine officer among other things - a good message. Tables were lovely, food and wine were good, friendship around the tables abounded.
Day Three - the Long Mile
This was the longest Friday I've lived in a long time! Boarded on the buses at 8:30 a.m. and headed up to D.C. and the Iwo Jima Memorial.. looked outside in the morning and it was gray and raining. Lord, I prayed, please let us have the weather we need for this very important day. And He did.
It was group picture time and as the men grouped into their platoons for pictures, into the big group and as small groups of folks snapped photos on the side, there was a spirit of camaraderie and cheer. They all seemed genuinely happy to be together and, I think, began the bonding that occurred throughout the day. Many of the guys have shared that they weren't necessarily keen on coming, but their wives really encouraged them to do this - certainly true in our case.
Next stop: Vietnam Wall. How to tell you about this.... Except for one group of ill-mannered school children, there was a respectful hush there as people walked by the wall, starting at the beginning of the war where just a few names appear and continuing as the wall gets larger and deeper into the ground and full of names, continuing on out to the end rising to the surface again so to speak. Our guys stopped at their years which were the absolute peak years of the war. They found their friends on the wall, they stood in small clusters talking and sharing their experiences for quite some time. It rained a little while we were there but no one seemed to notice that much. After a little while, I meandered back to the bus as I was tired of being jostled by people trying to pass. Didn't seem to bother the guys at all. When I got to the bus, Tony Hilliard was standing there so we visited for awhile. Tony stayed in the Corps and ended his career as a Lt. Col. Lots of moves, lots of sacrifice but the family seems to have done well with this. A group of teenagers came to get on their bus. They are studying Vietnam and had a veteran with their group. Many of them came over and shook Tony's hand saying "Thank you!" and "Welcome Home!" Very touching and he really appreciated that.
The group came together again and one busload of us prepared to head to Bethesda Naval Hospital while the other two went off to tour D.C. We had no idea really what the plan was for the hospital and I think all of us assumed we would be visiting and encouraging wounded warriors. Because of this, I had asked all of my facebook friends to send messages for these patients for me to deliver. I put them together on several bright colored sheets with facebook symbols and called it From My Wall to Yours. I realized when we got there as did all the others that we had been mistaken.
First, the guy who I believe is second in command there, boarded our bus. He spoke with us about a new structure coming as Walter Reed is going to be shut down and all care will be done at the Bethesda site as it becomes the center for care of wounded warriors. We were then taken for a "windshield tour" of the campus with his commentary. This included seeing 4 beautiful Fisher houses (homes provided by the Fisher family to house multiple patient families.) One of our guys is a friend of the family and on the board in NYC! It's a pleasant peaceful place. Next stop was to tour NICoE - National Intrepid Center of Excellence. Once again, our guy is on the board here as well! We had a full presentation of the mission and what happens there before touring the building. This is a place where very holistically and innovatively, patients with Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are treated.
It was pointed out that this was a direct result of the new kind of injuries sustained in modern warfare and what was not done after Vietnam. The penny dropped as the saying goes. The guys had been at the wall, looked at thousands of names of people who gave their lives in a war won on the battlefield but lost in the press and abandoned for PR reasons and due to political cowardice. I know that many were asking once again, "For what?" But here was one of the answers. Here was the Lord bringing good out of terrible circumstances. It was absolutely wonderful to see the encouragement this brought.
We toured the facility in small groups and as we went around I wondered what to do about my facebook pages. I had been so sure there would be an opportunity to share these. Decided to just offer them to our tour leader, a young Marine officer, and tell him what they were about and to assure him that if they had no use for them, they could dispose of them. But I was a little sad because so many from even other parts of the world had participated. Well, he looked a little concerned when I first started to pull something out - no idea what he was thinking I was going to hand him (haha! -tracts!) but when he heard what I had done and saw them, he lit up with a smile and even asked if they could be duplicated - Yay! Many of the messages of course were spiritual in nature so the Word went forth. We did meet for @ 15 mins. with a few staff and a couple of patients in another place and then got back on those buses!
Off to 8th and I which Munn had so been looking forward to having me see. I had never gotten there but now I have! Awesome evening as we watched and listened to the Marine Corps Band, the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and a huge drill team. Beautiful reds and blues, twirling rifles, amazing synchronization in the silent drill team and regular drill. Wonderful patriotic music including Lee Greenwood's Proud to be an American played AND sung by the band. And ended by a lone bugler on the top of a building playing Taps!
What a day of highs and lows, of frustration and pride, of tears and smiles. Marines have the most amazing code which stresses honor and humility. Did you know they have less decoration on their uniforms than other services? That is intentional. So grateful and so concerned that we could lose this in our nation if we are not careful.
It was group picture time and as the men grouped into their platoons for pictures, into the big group and as small groups of folks snapped photos on the side, there was a spirit of camaraderie and cheer. They all seemed genuinely happy to be together and, I think, began the bonding that occurred throughout the day. Many of the guys have shared that they weren't necessarily keen on coming, but their wives really encouraged them to do this - certainly true in our case.
Next stop: Vietnam Wall. How to tell you about this.... Except for one group of ill-mannered school children, there was a respectful hush there as people walked by the wall, starting at the beginning of the war where just a few names appear and continuing as the wall gets larger and deeper into the ground and full of names, continuing on out to the end rising to the surface again so to speak. Our guys stopped at their years which were the absolute peak years of the war. They found their friends on the wall, they stood in small clusters talking and sharing their experiences for quite some time. It rained a little while we were there but no one seemed to notice that much. After a little while, I meandered back to the bus as I was tired of being jostled by people trying to pass. Didn't seem to bother the guys at all. When I got to the bus, Tony Hilliard was standing there so we visited for awhile. Tony stayed in the Corps and ended his career as a Lt. Col. Lots of moves, lots of sacrifice but the family seems to have done well with this. A group of teenagers came to get on their bus. They are studying Vietnam and had a veteran with their group. Many of them came over and shook Tony's hand saying "Thank you!" and "Welcome Home!" Very touching and he really appreciated that.
The group came together again and one busload of us prepared to head to Bethesda Naval Hospital while the other two went off to tour D.C. We had no idea really what the plan was for the hospital and I think all of us assumed we would be visiting and encouraging wounded warriors. Because of this, I had asked all of my facebook friends to send messages for these patients for me to deliver. I put them together on several bright colored sheets with facebook symbols and called it From My Wall to Yours. I realized when we got there as did all the others that we had been mistaken.
First, the guy who I believe is second in command there, boarded our bus. He spoke with us about a new structure coming as Walter Reed is going to be shut down and all care will be done at the Bethesda site as it becomes the center for care of wounded warriors. We were then taken for a "windshield tour" of the campus with his commentary. This included seeing 4 beautiful Fisher houses (homes provided by the Fisher family to house multiple patient families.) One of our guys is a friend of the family and on the board in NYC! It's a pleasant peaceful place. Next stop was to tour NICoE - National Intrepid Center of Excellence. Once again, our guy is on the board here as well! We had a full presentation of the mission and what happens there before touring the building. This is a place where very holistically and innovatively, patients with Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are treated.
It was pointed out that this was a direct result of the new kind of injuries sustained in modern warfare and what was not done after Vietnam. The penny dropped as the saying goes. The guys had been at the wall, looked at thousands of names of people who gave their lives in a war won on the battlefield but lost in the press and abandoned for PR reasons and due to political cowardice. I know that many were asking once again, "For what?" But here was one of the answers. Here was the Lord bringing good out of terrible circumstances. It was absolutely wonderful to see the encouragement this brought.
We toured the facility in small groups and as we went around I wondered what to do about my facebook pages. I had been so sure there would be an opportunity to share these. Decided to just offer them to our tour leader, a young Marine officer, and tell him what they were about and to assure him that if they had no use for them, they could dispose of them. But I was a little sad because so many from even other parts of the world had participated. Well, he looked a little concerned when I first started to pull something out - no idea what he was thinking I was going to hand him (haha! -tracts!) but when he heard what I had done and saw them, he lit up with a smile and even asked if they could be duplicated - Yay! Many of the messages of course were spiritual in nature so the Word went forth. We did meet for @ 15 mins. with a few staff and a couple of patients in another place and then got back on those buses!
Off to 8th and I which Munn had so been looking forward to having me see. I had never gotten there but now I have! Awesome evening as we watched and listened to the Marine Corps Band, the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and a huge drill team. Beautiful reds and blues, twirling rifles, amazing synchronization in the silent drill team and regular drill. Wonderful patriotic music including Lee Greenwood's Proud to be an American played AND sung by the band. And ended by a lone bugler on the top of a building playing Taps!
What a day of highs and lows, of frustration and pride, of tears and smiles. Marines have the most amazing code which stresses honor and humility. Did you know they have less decoration on their uniforms than other services? That is intentional. So grateful and so concerned that we could lose this in our nation if we are not careful.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Day Two
We boarded our buses like obedient school children and felt a little more at ease as we started this trip back in time. As we drove to Quantico, I am sure there were as many thought paths as there were men in the group. When we got to the Basic School area, almost to a man, the comment was that they didn't recognize it at all! Buildings stand where quonset huts were, trees and shrubs have grown tall, and the realization that men and place had both moved on.
A talk from several Marines on the current leadership training program was next on the agenda before we headed over to a martial arts demonstration by two guys and a gal - oh, there is another big change. Women go through the entire TBS program with men now training to lead others into combat although women are not in front line combat at this time technically. Apparently that is a grey area. A tour of the school followed and then we attached ourselves in small groups to young second lieutenants who talked about their experience and had lunch with them in the old mess hall. Our friend was a very attractive young man from New York who seemed like the perfect PR automaton to me - spitting out all of the approved answers to questions. Definitely a gungho Marine and ready to go with his classmates to Afghanistan which will be their next stop after this training (once again 26 weeks).
Hopped on those buses again and headed to the museum which was absolutely awesome. There is a beautiful chapel in the woods next to the museum also and we checked that out as well. Over this day and the night before, we began to reconnect with Munn's roommate from TBS, Tony Hilliard and his wife Peg. We double-dated with them on our first date - they were engaged at the time. After this tour, it was back to the hotel for awhile and then to dinner at the Globe and Laurel restaurant outside Quantico. Nice evening and got acquainted with a few more folks. One guy at the table has 4 purple hearts! He says that he was not seriously injured but who knows? Two of the guys we sat with have been back to Nam and another is going in a few months. I found that kind of surreal to contemplate.
Again, the conversation was fun and on the light side. It would be another day before we went below the surface at all.
A talk from several Marines on the current leadership training program was next on the agenda before we headed over to a martial arts demonstration by two guys and a gal - oh, there is another big change. Women go through the entire TBS program with men now training to lead others into combat although women are not in front line combat at this time technically. Apparently that is a grey area. A tour of the school followed and then we attached ourselves in small groups to young second lieutenants who talked about their experience and had lunch with them in the old mess hall. Our friend was a very attractive young man from New York who seemed like the perfect PR automaton to me - spitting out all of the approved answers to questions. Definitely a gungho Marine and ready to go with his classmates to Afghanistan which will be their next stop after this training (once again 26 weeks).
Hopped on those buses again and headed to the museum which was absolutely awesome. There is a beautiful chapel in the woods next to the museum also and we checked that out as well. Over this day and the night before, we began to reconnect with Munn's roommate from TBS, Tony Hilliard and his wife Peg. We double-dated with them on our first date - they were engaged at the time. After this tour, it was back to the hotel for awhile and then to dinner at the Globe and Laurel restaurant outside Quantico. Nice evening and got acquainted with a few more folks. One guy at the table has 4 purple hearts! He says that he was not seriously injured but who knows? Two of the guys we sat with have been back to Nam and another is going in a few months. I found that kind of surreal to contemplate.
Again, the conversation was fun and on the light side. It would be another day before we went below the surface at all.
The Reunion of 85 Marines
I'm getting to this after the fact for a lot of it because they have kept us so busy! The reunion started on Wednesday night with a barbecue and it was a very tentative evening for a lot of folks. As I had agreed with one of the guys, when you go to a high school reunion etc, you are seeing people you spent years with most likely. These guys were the first class going through officer training to have their training time shortened from 26 weeks to 5 months, so they really had not been together very long at all. Now 43 years had passed and imagine the challenge of identifying people who have morphed into senior citizen faces and bodies. So, there was a lot of nervous conversation around tables as people tried to get their bearings. Of course there were some who had kept up with one another over the years, but they were definitely in the minority. The evening came to a close with instructions for tomorrow: Be at the buses at 8:30 to head to The Basic School and later to the new Marine Corps Museum.
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