Sacrifice

From the top of the hill, a surreal scene stretched in all directions. The grass was a lush green in contrast to the rows and rows of white stones, each one with a small flag in front of it. Each one marked a life given for my freedom.

Vietnam. WWII. CSA. Korea. WWI. Desert Storm. Purple Heart. Bronze Star. Medal of Honor.

Their arrival was not accompanied by fanfare. The gentleman in the front row in the red American Legion campaign cap was a Medal of Honor recipient. The thin black man in the wheelchair was one of the few remaining Tuskegee Airmen. The man with a prosthetic arm wore a Korean War Veteran baseball cap. Several men were in black leather vests emblazoned with Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club. Then there was the young Marine in his dress uniform who was accompanied by his parents and girlfriend. He looked fresh out of school. They came to this place on Memorial Day to remember that freedom comes with a cost. Soon, young and old took their places in the shade of the oak trees to listed to the music and speeches.

From my vantage point I watched as the colors were presented. Even those in wheelchairs stood with support and saluted proudly as THEIR flag went by. They got to their feet again as the song for their branch of service was played. It was an amazing sight as the living stood among the dead, united by the bond of those who have sacrificed so much for liberty.

Thankfully this year the breeze kept the temperature at a more comfortable level, and we had no heat casualties to treat at the aid station. It was a good day, and I was right where I wanted to be.

In The Woods Once Again

Bright and early Saturday morning I attended another session of WSAR, the Wilderness Search And Rescue training. This time it was held at Scoutland in Gainesville, the same place Aaron will go for Boy Scout camp in June. The Cub Scouts were there for an event,and they lined the road as we marched by toward our campsite. You could hear them whispering as we went by, "Look at the Army men!" I guess we were quite a sight as we marched by with our packs on our backs and yelling out a cadence!

Our classroom was the great outdoors this time. We gathered around a trailer and listened to the various instructors. We were each assigned to a group and sent off in different parts of camp to work or survival skills. I ended up in the shelter group, and we made several different kinds of shelters out of our ponchos that could house 1-5 people. Later we came together in different small groups to share what we learned.

Why is it that nobody pays any attention to what you are doing until you are doing nothing?

After sharing the knowledge we had gathered in our small groups, we sat down and practiced knot tying and other skills. Here comes the lieutenant, asking what we're doing. Soon he assigned tasks to each of us. Mine was to build a fire. Great! I know how to do that! Oh, but PFC, I want to see you do it with a magnesium block. Oh no. I've never done it that way!!! I stacked the tinder and kindling and started shaving the magnesium onto it. As I tried to get a spark, the LT said, "Now that's the way it's supposed to be done." Before I thought, I popped back, "What sir? A bunch of men watching a woman work?" Oh I got a good laugh from everyone on that one. Thankfully I also got a good spark and the fire caught right up.

After supper we had a short class on land navigation, at which I stink!!! Thank God they put me with someone who was excellent at it, and another man who is a police officer. At 10 PM they sent us off in the woods to search for a lost person, which was a 185 pound mannequin. I knew when they sent our threesome off to the point furthermost from camp, that we'd be the ones to find something. We searched and searched, finally locating the dummy around 11:45. We called in the medics and helped package the patient for transport out of the woods. Let me tell you, it was a long way back to camp with the men changing places periodically to carry the dummy back. Luckily they had me and the other woman in the class guiding with flashlights. We hauled back into camp after midnight, and they released those of us not in 4th BN to go home. We had the choice of staying there for the night with the rest of the guys or going our merry way. Let's see...stay the night in a chilly tent on the ground and get back up at 5 AM, or drive to the camper where I can sleep next to my toasty husband and get up at a more reasonable hour. Camper here I come!!!

I really enjoyed the training and learned so much! I'm half-way through WSAR, and am looking forward to the next session in September!

A Little Culture

Last night I actually paid to listen to my baby sing. The middle school chorus performed with several other area choirs in "An Evening With The Composer" which featured the works of Joseph Martin. What an evening! It was a good three-hour concert. The kids sounded wonderful! Unlike their adult counterparts, the kids performed without sheet music. Mr. Martin took the stage also, and performed several pieces on the piano. I tell you, if you had closed your eyes, you'd almost expect "Great Balls of Fire!" The man was extremely talented, and played hymns in every style of music from ragtime on up. Aaron went backstage to meet him after the concert, and found him to be a very personable and encouraging man. He encouraged Aaron to keep working hard in music, and seemed impressed when Aaron told him about the selection he sang in German at the Solo Festival.

Initially I fussed at having to buy a ticket to hear our school chorus sing, but after hearing them and the rest of the performance, I didn't mind so much. We need a little culture now and then!