I was so excited about spending the holiday weekend with Michael and the other chaplains and their wives and families. Victoria and I drove to Fort Jackson on Thursday, July 3, in order to witness Michael's graduation from CIMT (Chaplain's Initial Military Training). It is commemorated by the "donning of the beret." Michael told me it started at 9:30 a.m. Victoria and I arrived just in time to see all of the chaplains leaving! We couldn't figure out what was going on. Two other wives had shown up, and they missed it, too. Of all times for the Army to be EARLY, they chose a day when family members were coming in to witness this auspicious occasion. :O) Oh well. Michael thought we were late. I told him we were on time, but they donned their berets before 9:30. C'est la vie!
We enjoyed the rest of the day getting to know other chaplains' wives and children. Victoria and another girl, Olivia, hit it off right away. Olivia will be a freshman in the fall, too, and her dad will be going to Fort Hood. Unfortunately, Olivia and her mom will be staying in LA. But, at least Victoria had someone to hang out with.
Everyone was excited about the 4th. There was to be a drill and ceremony with hundreds of privates. I had no idea there were so many people at this fort. We see so few of them, I guess. There was going to be music, the National Anthem, and the grand finale...Torchlight Tattoo (fireworks). Around 6:00 p.m., we decided to walk to the event with about five other families. I guess it was about a mile-and-a-half. Not too bad. Just a little uphill. :O) We got there and spread out our blankets to sit. The chaplains have the weekends off and did not have to be in uniform, so they were all in civies (civilian clothing...HA!). So, it was really cool to see company after company of privates marching in shouting cadences. It was so awesome to see, and there was an excitement in the air in expectation of what the night had in store for us.
At one point, it started to sprinkle. We got a little concerned, so Michael decided to take our things back to the room. We had our digital camera, iPods, books, etc. Things it would not have been too good to get wet. But Michael didn't get to run quickly by himself. He had an entourage. Victoria, Olivia, and another little girl wanted to go, too. So, off Michael went with three girls trailing after him. Thankfully, the storm blew over very quickly and it was sunny again. I was sitting on my blanket, chatting, and people watching when I looked to the right of where I was sitting, and there was a gigantic, black storm cloud approaching. It was very ominous. I started to get concerned. My concerns were justified when a lady calmly said over the loudspeaker, "Please return to your cars and leave. The soldiers will be led to the bleachers." Oh my! I knew I needed to find Michael and the girls. However, another chaplain told me to go under the bleachers with everyone else, and he would find Michael and the girls. I reluctantly said okay. So, as I was walking to the bleachers along with everyone else who didn't have a car, it started to rain. We got under the bleachers as soldier were being marched into the bleachers. I FINALLY saw Michael and the girls running towards the bleachers. I was very happy to see them. By the time they got under, it was pouring. P O U R I N G ! ! ! Soldiers were drenched! I felt so bad for them. There were soldiers still standing in the field waiting to be told they could run to the bleachers. It was crazy! The rain starting falling sideways, so it would blow under the bleachers. I had our blanket with me and held it up to keep the rain off of us as much as possible. We were crowded under the bleachers like sardines.
I'm not sure how much time passed under those bleachers. Michael thinks we were under there for about an hour. As the rain started to subside, soldiers were let out of the bleachers and escorted onto buses to take them back their barracks. Our group decided to walk back to our housing. By the way, our group consisted of six chaplains, six wives (one of which is pregnant), and seven children (one just 18 months old). As we stumbled out from under the bleachers and headed on our way back home, there was a loud boom to our left...the fireworks were under way. LOL! I guess they wanted to give everyone something besides just a drenching. So, as we walked, we would stop now and then and watch the fireworks. But not only that, God provided His own fireworks. There were many, many lightning strikes included with the manmade fireworks. It was awesome!
We finally made it back to our "hotel" and decided to have an ice cream social. Several men went to Wal Mart, got three things of ice cream, some toppings and we had ice cream in the lobby. :) It was the perfect ending to a very eventful 4th. Victoria said it was the best 4th of July ever. Needless to say, it was certainly memorable. :)
By the way, if you want to see some great pictures of the fireworks that include the lightning, too, visit http://prodeoetpatria.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/chbolc-day-28-independence-day-and-a-thunderstorm
The pics are by a chaplain who decided to stay in his room. It was worth it.
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