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"Hooah" from Fort Benning: Family Weekend!
By Brandy Lewis
The day couldn't come fast enough and a 12 hour drive separated me from
my soldier. It had been over eleven weeks since I had seen my son
and I was eager with anticipation. We arrived later on Thursday
night and went to Fort Benning to get our family pass so we would be
ready Friday morning. It would be a restless night as my mind
would not shut down.
I had read that no matter how early you are, you still won't be early
enough. So, we left 2 1/2 hours early for a ten minute drive.
Getting to base was easy but once on base the GPS said it was a 30
minute drive to where he was. We started on our way, driving 15
mph with Army trainees running on every road. Just when I thought
we were lost, we saw our road coming up. Once we got a little
closer we noticed the road was closed. I could practically touch the
road we needed to be on. We turned around and back we went.
We saw a military police vehicle parked to the side so we asked him for
directions. He didn't know how we had gotten so far away from our
destination. After some directions, we were off again.
Finally, we arrived. Luckily, they had moved the family briefing
forward 1 hour so we were on time. We were lost 3 more times on
base until we finally got it down. We listened to the family
briefing just waiting to see Cade. It ended and everyone headed
outside. On a brick pillar was a sign that said War Boys Platoon
One, so we took a seat there.
Finally, they were released and the soldiers came out yelling and
formed their block platoons. It was very impressive and it
brought tears to my eyes. Four platoons in a covered brick area
screaming at the top of thier lungs was overwhelming. From there,
every move was done together as one. They said the Pledge of
Alligiance and The Soldier's Creed. Then they asked a parent to
come up for the Turning Green Ceramony and place the the Army patch on
their soldier's left arm. After this was done, the soldier in
training was now considered a United States Army Soldier.
It was a honor to place Cade's Army patch. I jumped up to find
Cade and gave him a big hug. I placed that patch on his left arm
and told him how proud of him I was. My feelings had come a long
way from the day he told me he wanted to join the Army. Next, his
dad and sisters came up and I took a seat. Finally, the soldiers
were released to us. We all stared at his patch and told him how
much he had grown. Then he was ready to get out of there and so
were we. He was hungry and the first place we passed was Waffle
House and that sounded good to him. After brunch, we went to the
mall shopping. He bought boots, socks and comfy underware and we
all bought sweatshirts and tee shirts. Then, we went to two
other Army stores buying a few things at each one. When we
were done, we went back to his barracks and waited 2 1/2 hours until it
was time to come back. We weren't going to chance getting lost
again and getting him back late. We had a wonderful day with our
son.
The next day started with pick up at 7am. Although it was suppose
to be a secret, he had access to a Juul. We ended up with a car
full of soldiers hitting this Juul and getting their nicotine
fix. If a drill sergent had seen this who knows how extreme his
punishment would be. Here they were, standing in a line to get in
my car.
Once we left, we went to get Cade's favorite breakfast, a McDonalds
McGriddle. He ordered three. Next, we were off to the
Infanty museum. Everyone enjoyed that very much but Cade was
ready to go swimming so we left. The afternoon was spent by the
pool with delivery pizza. Just a lazy afternoon spent as a family.
That evening when we returned, Cade introduced us to his battle
buddies. Then, what happened next no one saw coming. He got
down on one knee and asked Lauren (his girlfriend) to marry him.
She said yes! His comrades congradulated him and so did his
family. We are all very fond of Lauren and they make an excellent
couple. They are both young so a wedding is still a couple of
years away but we were really excited for them both.
That night when we returned Cade, there were many soldiers that were
late. The company got smoked! They were doing push ups and
yelling, "Hurry up, we're waiting on you!" This went on for a
while. Finally, the soldiers were released to go to their
barracks. We heard a pounding sound and looked up and saw Cade
beating on a window waving good bye and we all waved back. It had been
another facinating day!
The last day we went to Denny's for breakfast. He ate like it had
been days. Next, we went to the mall to buy him running shoes. We
wanted to go to a movie but didn't have time to get him back to base on
time so we made the decision to swim again all day. When the day
wrapped up we went to a chinese buffet for dinner. It was a pleasent
day just laying around talking and telling stories. Cade told us
about his training and a lot of goofing off stories.
We were back on base just with enough time to take a few pictures and
watch them get in formation. The D.S. went soldier to soldier
looking at everything they had bought only taking away a fragrent
deoderant which wasn't allowed. They pulled out their weapons and
had 2 soldiers stand guard. Everyone was allowed to go upstairs
and get their water packs and that's when we left.
We get to the other side of the building and there
was that familiar pounding again. Cade was waving good bye.
On our way out we saw them march to the chow hall as they sang the army
song. It was quite the sight. I was proud of Cade. He
had made it through Basic Training and was an Army Soldier.
That night we went back to the mall to pick up a few things we had seen
and headed to the hotel room. We packed in silence and went to
bed early because there was a somber feeling in the room. There
was a twelve hour drive waiting for us the next day. The three
days of family weekend had ended in a blink of an eye. Monday we
returned the 2020 Corola that had been our rental car. I felt
denied because all the kids wanted to ride with dad in the new
car. I had expected Cade to ride with me, his mom,
everywhere. I admit I'm a Cade hog so it was good that he got to
spend some time with his dad. Next month at grauation, I will
remember to drive the rental car! The trafffic was good on the
way home and it had been a succuessful trip.
Now he has three weeks of black phase for AIT, Advanced Infantry
Training. One week of gold phase and then he has officially graduated
and has the Turning Blue Ceremony where he earns his blue cord on his
dress infantry uniform. Then it's off to three weeks of
paratrooper training and then hopefully home before he goes to
Italy. Cade has been through the hardest mental and physical part
of his training but still has several weeks of training left.
Luckily, we will get to see him a couple of times before he is sent to
Itay for three years. We are so proud of our Army Soldier!
#ARMYSTRONG
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