An Extraordinary Choice
Young Men and Women of the American Military
This last Thursday I had the privilege of attending a graduation ceremony. My son, my youngest child, was graduating from the Navy Boot Camp along with 356 other men and women who had passed through that trial to be called ‘sailor’ on the other side of it. They will go on to be part of the backbone of the military, the enlisted personnel who make up the bulk of those who stand between our nation and those who would do harm to it’s citizens.
My father, my grandfathers, and my husband were all, in their time, enlisted men who served their country. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and now there is a Navy Seaman among them. I am incredibly proud of my son for having made this choice. And of having hung in there through the tough weeks of training he had to pass through to gain the reward of this day of ceremony and solemn oaths.
Every week at Great Lakes, a class graduates. This doesn’t lessen the ceremonial pomp they give each week, honoring the commitment the graduates have given with their lives to service. My son told me that of the five divisions that graduated on this day, there had been five hundred starting out, and only 357 made it through. They had to pass physical, mental, and endurance tests. To bond into teams, learning to work together. To stand watch late into the night protecting their brothers and sisters in arms. Now, they go on to more school, to begin to learn their specialized jobs they will carry out for the next four, or five, or even six years.
They look so very young to me. I found myself choked up, watching them. They are young and eager and very earnest, and I’m proud of all of them. My son looks taller and carries himself straighter than he did when he lifted his hand in an oath ten weeks ago. He’s slimmed down and hardened up, and he has a purpose to his life. He’s making plans, and looking forward to the future even as we both know that wars may come to disrupt those. That is what he signed up for, and as he inherited my interest in military history, he knows it. He is looking at the future with clear eyes but he has found meaning in his life and it is good.
When it was over and the hugging was happening, my son and I headed for the second half of the occasion. He’d asked me during a phone conversation if I minded coming with him after graduation - we’ll have to run, he warned, it’s right after graduation and in a different part of the base - to the naturalization ceremony. Of course, I told him, I’ll be so happy to be in the audience for that as well.
There were ninety men and women who graduated, marched over to the chapel, and then took another oath, as a citizen of the United States of America. Several of them had been in my son’s division, and he wanted to support them as they took this step, severing all ties with their past, and forging a new allegiance. Coming from thirty different countries, they stood up in turn as the master of ceremonies called out their country. My impression was the two countries most represented were Nigeria and the Philippines. Watching this solemn and joyful occasion was a perfect cap to the day’s ceremonies.
It was a momentous day, and I am thrilled I was able to be present for it. Being able to spend a couple of days with my son during his liberty was wonderful. We didn’t do much. The day we’d wanted to go to the botanical garden was cool and rainy, and we spent it relaxing and watching movies at my hotel. If you’re curious, his movie choices ran towards Shrek, Lilo and Stitch, and Down Periscope - which we had also watched the night before he left for Boot Camp. He told me he plans to watch it again after he passes through Sub School, because he thinks he’ll see different things as he gains in knowledge and experience. I think he’s right.
He will be in Connecticut for the rest of the year in schools. I may see him once during that time, but now he has his phone and email, so it will be less of a separation other than the natural inclination of a busy man to keep his own counsel. He’s not a boy any more wanting his mother.
This was an extraordinary choice for a boy to make, to serve his nation. As an active-duty serviceman, he joins the less than 1% of the population that had made the same choice he did. He joins a Navy tasked with an enormous mission, and shrinking resources and personnel. It will not be easy for him. He spoke to veterans and serving military people before he made the choice, and I supported him whatever he was going to do. He may not, at the tender age of 18, have had a full comprehension of what he was signing on for here and now. He did, however, have a solid grounding in the history of what the US military is and means to the world.
I’m so stinkin’ proud of him.
My son's high school years were tough, so when he joined the Army and we went to Ft Benning for his graduation I was thrilled to give him a hug and say, "I'm proud of you." And even now, 25 years later, I choke up when I remember him replying, "I'm proud of me, too."
I'd say "You Must Be So Proud!" but, knowing you, I have a pretty good idea how damn proud you are, and I salute you both for carrying on the tradition of military families.