......young girls would have swooned over this pair of handsome buddies. You all know cousin Jonny, now meet his friend from their high school days: Drew.
Drew (actually Bos'n Drew of the U.S. Coast Guard) was at Purdue in December, the day after Jon's graduation, for a very special reason. Jon was being commissioned into the U.S. Air Force as a Second Lieutenant and Drew wanted to be there to give him the first official salute of Jon's military career. Tradition demands that someone connected with the U.S. Military be the first to salute the newly commissioned person. There is another custom that follows the salute. To fulfill this second tradition, Jon shook the hand of Drew and, in so doing, placed a silver dollar in the palm of his friend's hand.
The photograph below catches Drew about to raise his hand in that first, awe inspiring salute. I was absolutely, positively a-tingle with feelings of patriotism and grandmotherly love. It's not every day Grandpa and I get inspired like we did that day.
Just as impressive was the actual commissioning ceremony. Our hearts again swelled with pride as we heard Jon repeat these words:"I, Jonathan David Seagle, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God."
Yikes! It sounds like Jon could get himself into a very dangerous war defending and supporting our U.S. Constitution; it reminded us of the many men and women who have done just that, so we silently gave thanks for the people who have served America. What was that in the oath about "without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion?" The Air Force takes this oath very seriously!
After all this took place, we (Aunt Deb, Uncle Jeff, Grandpa and I) went on stage to pin Jon. In MY day, that would have meant Grandpa and I were pre-engaged. In this situation, it meant Jon's Mom and Dad had to pin the stripes on his shoulders and Grandpa and I pinned bars on his hat. I was too busy to see how Aunt Deb and Uncle Jeff were doing, because I got the two bars pinned and Grandpa said, "That's wrong. Turn them the other way." I did and we waited for Mom and Dad to finish the stripes (took only seconds) and we handed the hat to Jon, so he could attach it to his uniform properly. He took it from us and said, "The bars are turned wrong, but that's alright for now." Oh, well, we did the job and it turned out good. Look below.
Jon looks totally pinned, barred and striped and, like the rest of us in the photo, he looks very happy and relaxed - the way a person always feels after completing a job well done. This honor required about five years of schooling loaded with numerous extracurricular activities.Jon is now back at Purdue looking for a job. His Pilot's School won't begin until June, so he'll have to support himself until then, when he will travel to Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas and start his activity in the U.S. Air force.
Sorry to be so late in getting this page of my blog posted. We've had a happy, but hectic holiday and I just couldn't move any faster.
Love you all, Grandma for Grandpa and me
