The Gydon

I wasnt able to be at his graduation because of the distance between the east coast and alaska and because of the horrible cost of travel between the two places. so instead i got the next best thing i got a tape of his graduation in the mail. I tell you what i got my hands on that tape and i ripped the package open and put it in the vcr right away. and sat and watched it all the way through several times. It was amazing to me how many young people were graduating from basics at the same time the tape was full of this sea of white Naval uniforms . If not for knowing my son had made Gydon and what unit he was in i would never have seen him on that tape. which by the way was so grainy that nothing you did could make the picture better. but i didnt much care about that i just was so happy to be even a tiny part of his graduation . soooooo I looked for the gydon and did i ever get a good show :) he marched by with that flag and i was in tears reaching out to touch his image on the screen. and once in the area they were supposed to be at the guy holding the flag behind him miss placed his area of holding his own flag and it drapped itself over my sons head . my son did nothing to move tht flag but stood there until the guy realized he should move it and my son stood at attention and just held his flag with out moving. but yet not able to see a thing.
and then as soon as it had begun it was over and he headed out to the Field medical Service School where he trained to be a Naval Medical Corpsman.
while he was there we got news of the USS Cole being bombed. I didnt know what to think and it shook me up. I remember my son calling home and talking to me about this event and us saying well while we felt badly about the loss of life i personally was glad he was in training school and not out on some boat. that is when i found out he never would be he was going to be attached to the marines. at the time i had no comprehenshion of just what that ment but it seemd ok ot me.
it didnt take long and he graduated the training school and was being assigned to a base on the west coast. which seemed very wonderrful to me that way at least he was closer to home. how could i call it that he was still along long ways away . but hey better and easier for him to get here on leave then if he were on the east coast.
At first his leaves came and went easy enough for all of us we sent for him like clock work when the time came and enjoyed our time with him. lets see we got in i think two leaves before 9-11 which would change all our lives for a long long time.