Skip to main content

Old Soldiers Never Die

This was a great way to spend a couple of days in the middle of the week. Twenty-two years ago I got to go to Fort Leonard Wood with my dad to see my brother graduate from basic training. On Tuesday this week, I headed up to Tyler to pick up my dad so we could attend Craig's retirement ceremony and reception. It was a tremendous honor to make this trip and made for another special memory that I share with my dad and my brother.

This picture shows my brother, First Sergeant Clark (right) with Colonel Sage, who presented the awards and was the guest speaker for the retirement ceremony.

During the reception, following the retirement ceremony, Craig was presented with the Quartermasters Corps Order of Saint Martin medal. Chief Sanchez (presenting the medal) singled out Craig's community service with Habitat for Humanity and charity work with kids while serving in Bosnia as meritous achievement for this award. Here is a link to the story of this award and levels of presedence. http://www.qmfound.com/martin.htm

Here is Craig and Dad after the reception.
Twenty two years ago, Craig and I took a picture at Ft. Leonard Wood. That picture was a kid and a lean, mean soldier. For this picture, we were just luck we didn't need a camera with a wide-angle lens.

There are a few more pictures in the public album on the right column. I mentioned that it was an honor to attend this event. Not only am I incredibly proud of my brother and his selfless service for our country, we had the opportunity to shake the hands of 11 other men and women who ended distinguished careers on this day. It was a blessing to be able to look those men and women in the eye, shake their hand and thank them for their service and congratulate them on their careers.
Posted by Picasa

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Type 2 Diabetes - An Inconvenient Journey

I wish I wasn't the type of person that needed to get hit in the head with a 2x4 before I take action.  I really do want to be the type of person who heeds the warning signs that appear when someone else is walking through a challenge and is able to apply them to my own life.  I am 44 years old and I have a literal lifetime of warning signs, sounds, flags, banners, smoke signals and alerts that have been going off all around me. It isn't a news flash that obesity causes a variety of health-related issues.  I took health in junior high and high school.  I have been told many times by teachers, trainers, coaches, doctors, and nurses that I cannot outrun or outlive poor choices in diet and exercise.  As an adult, I have read many books on topics of health and self-improvement that encourage healthy habits and stress the importance of using daily exercise to reduce stress, improve cardiovascular health and increase energy.  I have read about the importance of...

C'mon Mom, it's just PB and J!

When Mommy makes Grace a sandwich, she takes lots of time to cut the sandwich in small, manageable pieces for Grace. Mommy also has a thing for clean fingers, clean hair and hopefully clean ears. There is certainly nothing wrong with this approach. I applaud her enthusiasm for Grace's manners. However, sometimes... well, come on... really. It is just peanut butter and jelly. At this point, I should probably take a moment to thank the sponsors of this particular blog entry, Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Gramma's Strawberry Preserves. Gramma's Strawberry Preserves and Peach Butter is only available at a small pantry in Tyler, TX. She doesn't advertise, she doesn't sell her products online, heck, she doesn't even sell her products period... But those in the know, know where to go to get their jelly fix. Since I am down to my last jar of Strawberry Preserves, and I am completely out of Peach Butter, it must be about time for another journey to East Texas. Since Gramm...

Grace's Birthday pictures

Count Brenda and I into the category of fans of Portrait Innovations! Leading up to Grace's first birthday we took her to have her picture taken at Sears every 3 months so that we could watch her grow. Each time it was a difficult experience. Nobody at Sears seemed to be able to get Grace to interact at all. It usually came down to Brenda and I deciding on 1 decent picture out of the set to use. For Grace's 2 year old picture, we decided to try someplace different. We went to Portrait Innovations. Talk about a great experience. Just like in the previous times, Grace was fussy and not at all interested in having her picture taken. The difference was that this time, the photographer took her time to draw Grace in and make her feel more comfortable. We took some family shots and used lots of different props to keep Grace engaged. It also helped that they took a ton of pictures! Not only did they take lots of pictures, we used 2 different studio rooms and several diffe...