Commissioning day was just beautiful with a nice stiff breeze to make those flags snap! Lots of precision and pageantry. DS was so damned handsome in that beautiful uniform. The CO's speech was short and sweet addressing their past accomplishments, and future responsibilities, through the lens of: Honor. Courage. Commitment. It was good because even he said its the same speech he always gives... the midshipmen even made up an NROTC card with his favorite phrases on it... analogous to a Bingo card. As the Skipper said, 50 started and only 15 finished. It's a long hard road.
Mom and girlfriend pinned on his bars and Dad handled the cover and gloves all while standing on the steps of the South Carolina State Capitol. Grandma, aunts, and uncles from his mother's side all made since they were fairly local. We took about a dozen family and friends to a very nice luncheon afterwards. The unit had a party at 9 PM that night which we missed as we were still boating from our sunset cruise.
Surprisingly, the only time I got teary eyed was when the CO was speaking and when I reviewed the photos later which my wife's cousin took. We didn't have to worry about catching a single photo. I highly recommend that approach. Her son-in-law commissioned from the same unit 5 years ago and is currently cruising somewhere below the surface of the Pacific. The flowers for the Mom's and girlfriends was also unexpected by me and a nice touch.
Graduation the next day was a bit of an anti-climax. Nevertheless, I was impressed that they listed all the new officers from the various ROTC programs in the bulletin and even had them stand during the ceremonies.
A great a memorable occasion. A good time was had by all. Oh, did I say DS was so damned handsome in that beautiful uniform.
Congrats to all the new officers out there!!!