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| On the Tuesday before Ben's graduation Mom and Dad met the Drill Sergent's. These are Ben's Drill Sergent's..Moore and Valencia. They gave extra hours to help their platoon get excellent training. |
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| Wednesday, was Family Day.. The day the parents met their loved ones:) This in Ben's Platoon. Notice their guidon..See all of its yellow ribbons?!! Ben's Platoon won all the awards that there was to win. The platoon called the guidon, the Gold-on because of it's color. All of the other platoon's guidons were very bare. The ribbons represented many extra hours of work. 3rd platoon scored overall far above the other platoons in their PT scores...I don't know...MAYBE they would say 'Thanks' to their SDS! : ) 3rd Platoon was also had the distinction of being the "Honor Platoon" (many thanks due to the honor squad : ) ) |
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| What a happy time! |
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| A precious reunion!!! |
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| Ben really wanted to see The National Infantry Museum...so they went to it. My Dad said that it was very,very interesting. They had rooms for all different times that America was at war...complete with real-life wax statures, pictures, and videos. They really wanted to stay longer, but could not because they were pressed for time.(Ben had to be back by 8:45..if Ben had been late it could have set him back to the beginning of Basic). |
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| This in the front of the museum. Even though it had been a few hours since they had seen each other they were still ready to stay close and hug:) |
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| Playing at a bowling alley in Columbus. They had a nice relaxing two rounds of bowling. |
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| Golfing was part of a day of relaxing together. So how did the soldier do at the games??? Well, I'm not sure if he won all the ribbons that day...but everyone had a a lot of fun. There was a pretty river walkway that was very close to the Fort where they enjoyed the last minutes of the evening. Overall they had a very fun time on Family Day :) Being together was soooooo good! |
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| Ben's graduation ceremony was really neat. First of all, there was a band that played a few specials. Next, guys came out that represented the different uniforms that the army has worn as time has gone by. Then Ben, with a squad of soldiers, demonstrated what the army wears now and the weapons that it uses. They ran out under cover of smoke, and to the noise of bombs bursting and guns firing. They came sneaking in, in formation looking carefully all around, then at a signal started running ahead to where they each stood at attention while the modern day army squad was described. When the announcer came to each guys weapon, they would step ahead and point to various parts of interest in the weapon they carried. They also had on body armor, which weighs 16 lbs, along with a combat helmet weighing about 5 lbs and night vision gear which weighed 3 lbs. Various noises, grunts and pounding on body armor, made it very interesting. Benjamin was carrying a machine gun...maybe a M 240... (you may have to correct us, Benjamin) |
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| After Ben's demonstration, the company came out and stayed in the field for a long time. There were several awards that were given out. The soldiers were inspected, a speech was given, and the soldiers sang a song and said the soldiers creed. Then they came up and left the field. This is Ben's Platoon. |
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| Aaron and Naomi woke up at 1:00 in the morning to make it to Ben's Graduation. This is their sweet and darling daughter...can't wait till I see this girl!! |
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| Ben after the graduation was over. He is holding his favorite gun of all the weapons that he used. |
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| Ben and his first-cousin-once-removed got along really well...she loved wearing Ben's hat. (If you're wondering about the bandaid, she managed to hit the corner of a coffee table) |
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| My Brother in his full uniform. |
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| Mom and Dad were so glad that they were able to drive Ben to his new base in Fort Gordon. They were also able to drive down another soldier that really needed a ride. Ben really wanted to find a piano to play on before he arrived at Fort Gordon, so mom and Dad found him this one :) (it was in a music shop not just off the main road we were on.) The other soldier was a little skeptical of Ben wanting to play a piano. After Ben played his first song,"How Great Thou Art" (the one that gives mom happy 'shivers' every time she hears it) he was not skeptical any more..in fact he asked Ben if he could come with him if he went to play again :) The folks at the music store invited him to come back and play anytime. He managed to get in about 1/2 hour of playing...but could've continued on much longer.... |
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| Ben's new base, Fort Gordon, Georgia |
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| This is his headquarters building where mom and dad dropped him off. |
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| Benjamin's official MOS is 25 Uniform or Signal Support Systems Specialist (the army loves acronymns)! MOS stands for Military Occupational Specialty) There are many other jobs there in the 25 field. Somehow they all relate to Signals (Communications) ...and this is the base where they train. |
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| This is every soldiers job, one that we need to be aware of and be grateful for. |
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Ben is on the right,this is during his demonstration that he did with some other soldiers. Ben thought of this before he left for Basic Training. The Christian Soldier's Creed
I am a Christian Soldier
I am a Spiritual Warrior and a member of the body of Christ.
I serve God's people and live according to Biblical values.
I will always place Christ's mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen brother.
I am disciplined, prepared for the intensity of Satan's attacks
and a workman that does not need to be ashamed.
I always maintain a clear conscience
and forgive those who have offended me.
I am an expert witness and a professional ambassador for Christ.
In God's power, I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy Satan's strongholds.
I will cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God.
I am a guardian of true freedom, Christ's name and Christ's way of life.
I am a Christan Soldier.
Ben's side note was that no earthly or spiritual soldier lives up to what they
want to be 100% of the time. The creed states what the goal is! May you all strive to be Soldiers for Christ today and every day. |
Just as a side note..many thanks to my mom that supplied me with some of the information about the soldiers.
