PROUD

My Dad raised my sister, brother and I to be proud to be an American. We have watched him over the years pray for our soldiers, get churches involved in doing good for our soldiers, and shake the hands of many soldiers just to say "thanks." Without these soldiers, our great country wouldn't be the Land of the Free.

As many of you remember, my sister joined the US Army Reserves almost two years ago. In February, my brother left to do the same. Seeing how much the two of them have grown has absolutely amazed me! I am so proud of them!

Last week, we were able to go see my brother graduate from Basic Combat Training. To say it was INCREDIBLE is an understatement. I am going to try to give the details of the events, along with pictures, but know that neither of these give the experience justice.

On Thursday, we were suppose to all gather on Hilton Field at Fort Jackson to receive orders on what we were allowed to do with our soldiers on Family Day. (Keep in mind, this was the first time any of us had seen them in 9 weeks.) They gave a presentation in the middle of a huge field of how they would initiate an attack on a truck with a bunch of "Iraqis" with a bomb. It was pretty neat to see. It took about 20 soldiers to do it, and we were pretty sure Josh wasn't one of them.

Then, in the middle of the man telling us what our rules were for the day, smoke grenades started flying like crazy from the woods in our direction (they were about a football field length away from us). The next thing we see is this....

Mom and I lost it. The flood gates opened and the tears started flowing. It was one of the most incredible scenes I have ever witnessed. 1,000 plus soldiers running towards their families they had not seen in what seamed like an eternity. They gathered in formation right in front of the bleachers. After the crowd died down, we learned what was in store for our day, and then we were allowed to get our soldiers! As my Dad said, "GLORY!" It was so touching seeing babies reunited with their parents, parents reunited with their "babies", and hugs being shared on the only land at Fort Jackson a soldier can be seen showing PDA. Although we all missed him immensely, this little guy has called out for "Bu Ba" every - single - day - since - he - left. What a sweet reunion!

For the day, we honestly were not allowed to do much. We had to stay on base. (I never in my life realized just how huge a military base is! It's literally like it's own little town!) They did have things planned for families to do, and they had bowling allies and movie theaters, but everything was so crowded. The guys stood in line for 30 minutes at BURGER KING! As much as Josh wanted to be "outa that place," there wasn't much to do except show us around.

One thing I have learned from watching my sister and brother is the Army has more rules than any one person should ever have to remember. You have to take your beret off as soon as you walk inside a building, put it back on as soon as you walk outside, you cannot walk and talk on your cell phone at the same time, always solute an officer, no matter what you are in the middle of doing, don't say "thank you" to a Drill Sergent (ask Josh what happens when you do that!), and this list could go on and on. I can't even remember a handful of the nit picky things they have to remember!

On Thursday evening, Josh had to go back to the Barracks right after dinner, so we headed on out to the playground with little man! Have I mentioned this kid has no fear? He was just trying to do everything the big kids were doing!

He loves to slide, and we did this about 100 times!

After a short while, he looked like this...

On Friday morning (did I mention we had no sleep while we were there! The Army does everything EARLY!), we had to be back on Hilton Field for Josh's official graduation.

(There were 6 times this many soldiers there!)

It also did not disappoint. We sang God Bless the USA, watched as 52 soldiers earned US citizenship (think about what they had to go through to get what we take for granted!), listened to the soldiers recite the "Soldier's Creed" and witnessed the full march around they do at graduation. During the Soldier's Creed, there was not a dry eye in the audience. Here are the words:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my Warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

I also think this was the first time I have ever seen my sister solute the flag!

After the graduation, we were able to follow Josh back to the Barracks and see first hand where he slept for the last 9 weeks.

He even tried to show off by trying to out run Dad (the man who can run 5 miles a day) by running backwards. I must admit, it was close.

Then, we were heading back to Bama. Josh is now at Fort Rucker in Enterprise learning to be an air traffic controller. Please continue to keep he and my sister in your prayers.

One thing that happened to my sister and brother after graduating, was a "thank you" hand shake for their service. As Josh said, "That sends chills down my back." Now, I'm not asking you to sign up and go fight our wars (I'm not!), but please, please shake a soldier's hand and tell them thank you next time you see one in uniform! Because of them, you live in the Land of the Free.

Thanks Mom for taking the pictures!! :)