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"Hooah" from Fort Benning: The end, or is it?
By Brandy Lewis
We are driving home from Fort Benning, Georgia right now. So much
has happened in the last two weeks and it's time I update everyone on
the happenings of Benning. It has been the best of times, worst of
times and most trying of times. This is the conclusion to his basic
training.
Finally, I received the much awaited details on Honor Hill. What
was suppose to be the ending to a great journey fell short of
everyone's expectations. After a solid week out in the field,
Cade made his way up the Stairway to Heaven which was much harder than
had been anticipated. Then, the Drill Sergent broke the news to
them that another platoon was already at Honor Hill. They marched
to an unknown, insignificant area and received their crossed
rifles. Cade states, "We did the ceremony at some training site
but we all knew it would never feel like Honor Hill." I had told
everyone I knew that my son was marching to Honor Hill on that
day. To hear he didn't get to go broke my heart. This is
such a right of passage in the Infantry, I felt my son's pain. In
the end, he still received his crossed rifles which he writes is all
that matters.
It was now time for the Turning Blue Ceremony. Tears filled my
eyes as I watched my son march front row, in his dress blue uniform
across the field. A few words were said and then a designated
person came down and pinned the blue braid on the soldier's right
shoulder to designate them as Infantry. Cade had choosen his dad
to do the honors. I stood near by and took plenty of pictures of
the ceremony. Pride gleamed from my husband's face and everyone
had tears in their eyes. It was a very proud moment to say Cade
was now in the Infantry.
That night his grandparents came into town for graduation the following
day. They took us out to Cade's choice
resturant...Longhorn! We had a nice evening catching up and Cade
looked so dignified in his dress blue uniform.
The following day was graduation at the National Infantry Museum.
There were three companies graduating, almost 700 men.
During the ceremony they had a demonstration of infantry with guns
going off, smoke and soldiers making their way across the field.
This was set to dramatic music and showed a few skills the soldiers had
learned. There were speakers, awards and finally the men marched
across the field three deep so everyone could see their soldier.
Cade was on the end and we had found him right away. After he
marched by us, he proceeded off the field and straight to the museum
where the soldiers all had their duffel bags. He grabbed his
three duffel bags and off to the airborne bus he went. We saw him
around 7:30 that night and congratulated him. He had moved right
into the airborne barracks and had the weekend to spend with us.
He still had to be back at night but we had long days with him.
Cade was his old self again. He was wrestling with his sisters,
listening to loud obnoxious music and all the little things that made
him Cade.
I miss him already.
I started this column for a couple of different reasons. I was so
incredibly proud of my son and found his stories interesting and I
wanted to share them. I felt there were veterans out there that
would enjoy the stories of a young man off to basic training. I
also was feeling lost and felt there were other military moms out there
that could relate with my side of the stories. What has come out
of this experience is something I couldn't of anticipated. I
became what I like to refer to as #ARMYSTRONG. I feel like a
super hero where the bad just bounces off of me. I don't go into
my son's room and cry anymore. I face whatever is coming my
way. Like I wrote Cade probably 100 times, "take it one day at a
time". If you have a bad day, you can choose to wake up the next
day and say, today is going to be a good day not a bad one. I
also told him to be 'Positive' and 'Strong'. I think he did a
good job of staying positive by his ability to have a tough training
day and come back to the barracks and laugh it off. He stayed
strong by waking up each day without complaining and facing whatever
the army had to throw at him.
Cade and I have both grown in the last 14 weeks. I knew he would
grow more mature but I didn't expect myself to change so much. It
was in the end a very positive experience. I would like to thank
my followers for going through this with me.
So where I go from here I'm not sure. Cade has just started
Airborne school and already there is drama. He failed his PT test
to get into airborne the first day but was allowed a second chance on
the next day, which he passed.
He has stated that now he has his phone he will not be writing me
anymore. I preferred to continue writing but kids today and their
phones! I would like to write an article when he graduates from
airborne to fill in everyone on his adventures. Then there will
be the big move to Italy. That sounds exciting to me. So
keep your eye out for an occasional article and once again, thank you
for reading! #ARMYSTRONG #HOOAH
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