hooah!
Hi friends and neighbors,
I am at risk of becoming the Kansan blog addict. I am enjoying not having to cover a murder trial. Crazy, I know. I have covered several redeployment ceremonies at Fort Riley though. Redeployment is when soldiers come back from war. Deploying means they go to war. Anyway, the people I covered were part of the 1-41 from Fort Riley. They had been gone to Iraq for a year, their biggest role being the security forces during the elections. Whatever you views on the military and the war, it is a pretty spectacular thing to witness a redeployment ceremony. You have to remember that families have been separated for one year, sometimes know knowing where their loved ones were or if they were even alive.
Family members gather in this huge hangar and sit in folding chairs facing a stage-like area. People have made signs, everyone is all decked out in red, white and blue and girlfriends dress like it's a Saturday night and they're looking to snag a KU basketball player. Soldiers start to walk in single file, shaking the hand of a high-ranking dude. They have to line up in formation on the stage-like area in front of the families. A podium is in the family area, facing the soldiers. These soldiers have to stand in formation, right in front of their families, many who are screaming and waving and clapping. You know that these soldiers are just bursting inside and all they want to do is run and smooch their families. A dude gives a prayer, the big dude gives a speech, there's a moment of silence and then the National Anthem. Then more speech by the big dude. There is this excitement that just keeps building up until it's at the point when families are just unable to sit. The big dude basically says, "GO!" and the families rush out. It is a pretty great moment, regardless of how you view the military.
I feel stupid trying to go up and talk to the soldiers and their families once they've been reunited. It's hard not to ask stupid questions. How do you think they feel, douchebag? All in all, I'd recommend that anyone see one of these things just to remind you that people are people, no matter what job they do. Plus, how can you resist a 7-year-old girl say, "I just want to hear my daddy laugh."? Come on, even Michael Moore would eat that shit up.
Until I have another epiphany,
AKS
P.S. O'Toole had a great centerpiece in yesterday's Des Moines Register
I am at risk of becoming the Kansan blog addict. I am enjoying not having to cover a murder trial. Crazy, I know. I have covered several redeployment ceremonies at Fort Riley though. Redeployment is when soldiers come back from war. Deploying means they go to war. Anyway, the people I covered were part of the 1-41 from Fort Riley. They had been gone to Iraq for a year, their biggest role being the security forces during the elections. Whatever you views on the military and the war, it is a pretty spectacular thing to witness a redeployment ceremony. You have to remember that families have been separated for one year, sometimes know knowing where their loved ones were or if they were even alive.
Family members gather in this huge hangar and sit in folding chairs facing a stage-like area. People have made signs, everyone is all decked out in red, white and blue and girlfriends dress like it's a Saturday night and they're looking to snag a KU basketball player. Soldiers start to walk in single file, shaking the hand of a high-ranking dude. They have to line up in formation on the stage-like area in front of the families. A podium is in the family area, facing the soldiers. These soldiers have to stand in formation, right in front of their families, many who are screaming and waving and clapping. You know that these soldiers are just bursting inside and all they want to do is run and smooch their families. A dude gives a prayer, the big dude gives a speech, there's a moment of silence and then the National Anthem. Then more speech by the big dude. There is this excitement that just keeps building up until it's at the point when families are just unable to sit. The big dude basically says, "GO!" and the families rush out. It is a pretty great moment, regardless of how you view the military.
I feel stupid trying to go up and talk to the soldiers and their families once they've been reunited. It's hard not to ask stupid questions. How do you think they feel, douchebag? All in all, I'd recommend that anyone see one of these things just to remind you that people are people, no matter what job they do. Plus, how can you resist a 7-year-old girl say, "I just want to hear my daddy laugh."? Come on, even Michael Moore would eat that shit up.
Until I have another epiphany,
AKS
P.S. O'Toole had a great centerpiece in yesterday's Des Moines Register
posted by The University Daily Kansan at 4:20 PM
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