Happy Veterans Day

Veterans Day is the day to honor our military forces for their service.  I've been thinking a lot about this day as it's approached because it does take on new meaning being the mom of a soldier.  B. is uncomfortable when people thank him for his service.  In his mind, not being deployed means he's not really done anything to deserve the thank you?  He's not realizing how selfless and serving enlisting in the military truly is.  He chose this career - he felt called to serve, really.  As his mom, I wrestled with his enlisting quite a bit - but when your child tells you they want to serve, how can you argue with that.  So he is.  And thousands of others are, too.  And we remember all those loved ones we've known who've also served - and fought. It's a very meaningful day for me these days.

I was thinking back to his graduation from Basic - how it felt to see the hundreds of newly minted soldiers taking the field and the huge lump in my throat I had - this tremendous sense of pride that one of those young men was ours....and also just the sheer magnitude of realizing that all those young people volunteered to do this.  They stepped up and into a world they knew would challenge them in ways they'd never imagined - and they still said yes.

I looked back in my blog for recollections of that trip and found this post in draft state - so in honor of Veterans Day, I will share it.  It truly can't convey the pride and joy we felt watching these young people become official soldiers - B. included.

B., people thank soldiers for their service because you are serving - you've chosen to serve.  Of all the other zillions of thing you could do, you have chosen to be in the United States Army and that's no small feat.  You are a great young man and a soldier - and you deserve thanks and acknowledgement for that.  Your reply of 'thank you for your support' is perfect - and all soldiers past, present and future deserve our warm thanks - on this day and every day.

Here's the post from April, 2013.


The Turning Blue and Graduation ceremonies were amazing.  B. was right in front of us at the Turning Blue - we had left some papers and a Dunkin Donuts bag on two chairs in the front row before we went to the family orientation meeting - and miraculously, they were still there when we returned.  He was literally 15 feet from us - though sometimes hidden by his drill Sargent who was standing directly in front of B. .  Oh well.  I teared up when I saw him and he smiled a brief smile and then stared up and straight ahead.  He later told me he had to do that 'cuz it was emotional for him to see us, too.....

After the Turning Blue, we went to the National Infantry Museum and toured and had a nice lunch. There were a lot of families there with new graduates and it was fun to see so many smiling faces. All of us with grads knew what they've endured - at least not first hand but watching from afar - and there were proud faces everywhere.  The museum was amazing - it's hard to describe but it would be impossible to go through it and not have a lump in your throat through most of your walk.  When you think of the magnitude of what soldiers do - and now, that they do it voluntarily - it's pretty incredible.

B. went back to the hotel with us with all his 'gear' and then we had dinner at a small sports bar.  We hung out in the hotel room for a bit and then it was time to take him back to base.  B. found out that immediately after graduation on Friday morning, he had to report to Airborne School for 'processing'.  We pre-agreed not to try to find each other after the ceremony -

The graduation ceremony was incredible....the base band played and entertained us (they were AWESOME) and the speeches were brief and meaningful.  Again, lump in the throat most of the time because you just can't imagine these 400+ young men volunteering to put themselves in harms way - but they are.  The new soldiers marched off the field and headed to the front of the museum to have their group photos taken - and then they were off.  We got to the front of the museum in time to see hundreds of soldiers running towards the buses that awaited them - so we were very glad we had already agreed not to try to meet up.  Wouldn't have wanted B. to be worried that he didn't have time to find us - 'cuz he had to get where he needed to be.

He was 'processed' for the next six hours and we picked him up in time to have a nice dinner.  He arrived with all his gear - much of it soaking wet 'cuz it rained off and on that day and while they were being processed, the gear sat outside in the rain!  After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to do some laundry and help B. get his gear tidied up and readied.  Though he wanted us to take some stuff home, we decided it would be better to keep everything issued so far - even though he's pretty sure he won't need it....we did take some papers and his boot camp year book home with us.


The post is a bit choppy - I actually sort of told parts of the story in a few other posts - but the Turning Blue ceremony on the field at Ft. Benning is what I will never forget about my soldier. Having survived the hardest 13 weeks of his life up to that point - including absolutely no phone or social media direct contact with anyone in his circle of friends and family - was reason to celebrate. The field, completely full of new soldiers was such a proud moment for me as a mom - but really, more as an American.  I didn't expect to feel so overwhelmed by the events that weekend, but it was truly an awe-inspiring weekend.  

B., I'm so, so proud of you and your service.  You are an amazing young man and I am so honored to be your mom.