My view for what it's worth is if this is your first child going through the experience there are a lot of firsts. If you are not there in person, regardless of the magnitude of the event, you rely on others to take the pictures to capture the moment. They do a great job but there are a lot of cadets, and you may or may not see yours memorialized in film or video for that matter.
I didn't know or understand the calendar when my DD went through the I-Day to A-Day to Parent's Weekend events. The March back from Jacks Valley looks pretty cool. As it turns out, mine was nominated to be one of guidon bearers. In retrospect I wish that I had been there in person to get the perfect picture as I really enjoy taking pictures. If I had it all to do over again I would line the street and snap away just to capture the moment personally.
Once your child starts on their journey at I-Day you may or may not get letters, you may or may not get a phone call on doolie day out, and you may or may not find someone that looks like your cadet as they go through their daily training and you scroll through hundreds of pictures on webguy. If you want to go to the march back - I say go for it. I wish I had seen my DD carry the guidon back in person.
