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as far as i've heard, we will be marching in the parade in DC on the 20th.
vmi will be marching in the innaugral parade
- Thread starter VMINROTChopeful
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I hope that's true- We marched in Jimmy Carter's inaugural inJanuary 77 and whatever your your thoughts about "Jimma"- (and if you are under 40 you probably have none as you can't remember him!)- it was one heck of an exciting day and the picture is still on my wall. Cold and Icy and he had the reviewing stand set on an angle that made it hard to stay dressed but very cool experience.
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Kind of funny, actually... I remember bein' so excited about going to VMI my senior year of high school that I actually taped the news coverage of VMI marchin' in President Bush's second inaugural.
It'll make for one heck of a long day, I'm sure, but it'll be somethin' to look back on. Marched in (more like "sludged through," practically didn't stop rainin' from the time we got off the buses til the time we loaded 'em back up!) the governor's inaugural my rat year, and marched with the band in last year's Rose Bowl Parade.
It'll be real fun for the members of the Class of 2008 who took a fifth year to graduate. They'll have the distinct honor of having marched in TWO presidential inaugurals!
Here's to hopin' we don't mess this up.
It'll make for one heck of a long day, I'm sure, but it'll be somethin' to look back on. Marched in (more like "sludged through," practically didn't stop rainin' from the time we got off the buses til the time we loaded 'em back up!) the governor's inaugural my rat year, and marched with the band in last year's Rose Bowl Parade.
It'll be real fun for the members of the Class of 2008 who took a fifth year to graduate. They'll have the distinct honor of having marched in TWO presidential inaugurals!
Here's to hopin' we don't mess this up.
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As you get older you discover that those events that you can look back on and tell a good story about far overwhelm the hassle that you experience at the time for that same event. This will be one of those events- you will look back on it and talk about how cool it is that you were part of a very historic event.It'll make for one heck of a long day, I'm sure, but it'll be somethin' to look back on.
Here's to hopin' we don't mess this up.
And- rest assured- you won't mess it up!
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Good luck. Should be pretty cold. I on the other hand, will try to be out of the DC area that day. Federal employees in DC have off...I think I'll head south.
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p.s. if you can read what are on the company guidon flags on the tv, i'm in delta ("D") company, smallest (female) one so i'll be in the back! shout out here if you do see me (you might only be able to tell us because we'll come after charlie company. for some reason, it's always easier to read the charlie guidon than the delta one. ) but- advanced warning- i don't want to hear it if you see this rat making a mistake! haha.
btw, greetings to all:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
HAPPY HANNUKAH!
HAPPY KWANZAA!
did i leave anyone out? ... HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
(and now i'm off to tanzania to check out mt. kilimanjaro and take in a safari... haha
)
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For anyone who cares but missed it, here's a good video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07dI-6OO6ho.
It was terribly cold as we were waiting in line (we were second to last in the parade order), but once we stepped off it was actually pretty comfortable. It's certainly something to look back on in the years to come... especially for the Class of '09, as it was our Brother Rats leadin' this shindig! But I'll be honest, standin' out there in the cold as we were waiting to step off, exhausted from very little sleep on the bus after having morning formation at 0400, all I was thinkin' about was the fact that we're one day closer to graduation. It'll be nice to be an Alum one day so I can forget about the cold and the exhaustion and only remember the good stuff!
By the way, I'm with the band. And I play cymbals. Again, in case anyone cares.
Now it's on to practice for the band trip to Mardi Gras (and a longer parade) next month.
Jackie M. Briski '09
First Class PVT
Chief Cymbal Monkey
It was terribly cold as we were waiting in line (we were second to last in the parade order), but once we stepped off it was actually pretty comfortable. It's certainly something to look back on in the years to come... especially for the Class of '09, as it was our Brother Rats leadin' this shindig! But I'll be honest, standin' out there in the cold as we were waiting to step off, exhausted from very little sleep on the bus after having morning formation at 0400, all I was thinkin' about was the fact that we're one day closer to graduation. It'll be nice to be an Alum one day so I can forget about the cold and the exhaustion and only remember the good stuff!
By the way, I'm with the band. And I play cymbals. Again, in case anyone cares.
Now it's on to practice for the band trip to Mardi Gras (and a longer parade) next month.Jackie M. Briski '09
First Class PVT
Chief Cymbal Monkey
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RVM: thanks for the link- Y'all looked GREAT!
How long did you sit on the busses at the marshalling area? It seemd like an awfully late LD time- I'm sure everyone was beat. But- it will also be a memorable day for all of you- something to tell your kids about. My little girl is using this for show and tell in school today and is bringing the picture of her Daddy marching in the same parade for Jimmy Carter's inaugural.
So good work- we were all proud of you on a big day!!
How long did you sit on the busses at the marshalling area? It seemd like an awfully late LD time- I'm sure everyone was beat. But- it will also be a memorable day for all of you- something to tell your kids about. My little girl is using this for show and tell in school today and is bringing the picture of her Daddy marching in the same parade for Jimmy Carter's inaugural.
So good work- we were all proud of you on a big day!!
Just_A_Mom
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I saw you guys! VMI did look great - were there really 1200 of you? Is that the whole Corps?
my daughter had the privledge of marching last year - she said it was 8 miles and took hours!
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We sat on the buses forever. The drive took less time than I had anticipated (we left at 5:30am and arrived just before 10). We had time to watch two movies on the bus once we got there (thank God for modern technology, Lord only knows what they did to entertain themselves in the Old Corps! 
). Security only took about an hour, which was also considerably shorter than we had anticipated. So we sat on the bus and watched half of a third movie, and then we got off the buses and stood out in the cold for a good... well, I figure it was about an hour and a half, but it felt a lot longer because of the cold. They had told us that we may have as little as four minutes to get dyked out (fold the cape on the overcoat, and then put the cross dykes and breast plates on) before stepping off, but the parade got delayed due to Ted Kennedy's seizure. We didn't know that at the time, but at least he's doing better.
On the way back we stopped off in Manassas to pick up our supper (boxed lunches) and make sure all the buses had made it out of DC all right before the long haul back to Mother I. Naturally, one of the buses took the wrong exit, so we waited another 30-40 minutes for them to find the right exit. Amazingly, we had no breakdowns or other transportation difficulties! All in all, we got back after midnight.
The worst part was the practice parades, but they prepared us for the real thing more than the Commandant had anticipated, methinks. Practicing in subzero temperatures (I'm not kidding... one practice got cut short because the band instruments were literally freezing and wouldn't play, and the next practice we didn't even bother bringing out any instruments other than the drums, focusing more on drill than practicing the music) definitely prepared us for the windchill of 17*F we marched in.
As for the number of cadets, I think it may actually have been more than 1200. The only cadets who didn't march were a handful of First Class Privates left behind to guard the Institute, and in-season NCAA athletes with competitions this week (basketball plays tonight, wrestling has a match tomorrow night and track leaves tomorrow for a meet in NY). And each of those teams were represented by those who won't be competing this week! All in all, we had 1406 cadets at the end of last semester. I'm not sure what our exact numbers are now but I'm sure it's comparable, and there certainly weren't 200+ cadets left behind.
Mardi Gras... I'm really hopin' won't be one of the uberlong ones. We're going to Mobile, AL. I know some of them can be up to 17-mile parade routes! 7 1/2 for the Rose Bowl (including the transit route to the start of the actual parade route) was plenty for me. The really nice thing about the Inaugural was that it went pretty quickly. Normally it's our luck to get stuck right behind a float or a dance group that stops every 10' to perform!
). Security only took about an hour, which was also considerably shorter than we had anticipated. So we sat on the bus and watched half of a third movie, and then we got off the buses and stood out in the cold for a good... well, I figure it was about an hour and a half, but it felt a lot longer because of the cold. They had told us that we may have as little as four minutes to get dyked out (fold the cape on the overcoat, and then put the cross dykes and breast plates on) before stepping off, but the parade got delayed due to Ted Kennedy's seizure. We didn't know that at the time, but at least he's doing better.On the way back we stopped off in Manassas to pick up our supper (boxed lunches) and make sure all the buses had made it out of DC all right before the long haul back to Mother I. Naturally, one of the buses took the wrong exit, so we waited another 30-40 minutes for them to find the right exit. Amazingly, we had no breakdowns or other transportation difficulties! All in all, we got back after midnight.
The worst part was the practice parades, but they prepared us for the real thing more than the Commandant had anticipated, methinks. Practicing in subzero temperatures (I'm not kidding... one practice got cut short because the band instruments were literally freezing and wouldn't play, and the next practice we didn't even bother bringing out any instruments other than the drums, focusing more on drill than practicing the music) definitely prepared us for the windchill of 17*F we marched in.
As for the number of cadets, I think it may actually have been more than 1200. The only cadets who didn't march were a handful of First Class Privates left behind to guard the Institute, and in-season NCAA athletes with competitions this week (basketball plays tonight, wrestling has a match tomorrow night and track leaves tomorrow for a meet in NY). And each of those teams were represented by those who won't be competing this week! All in all, we had 1406 cadets at the end of last semester. I'm not sure what our exact numbers are now but I'm sure it's comparable, and there certainly weren't 200+ cadets left behind.
Mardi Gras... I'm really hopin' won't be one of the uberlong ones. We're going to Mobile, AL. I know some of them can be up to 17-mile parade routes! 7 1/2 for the Rose Bowl (including the transit route to the start of the actual parade route) was plenty for me.
The really nice thing about the Inaugural was that it went pretty quickly. Normally it's our luck to get stuck right behind a float or a dance group that stops every 10' to perform! 
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For anyone who cares but missed it, here's a good video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07dI-6OO6ho.
It was terribly cold as we were waiting in line (we were second to last in the parade order), but once we stepped off it was actually pretty comfortable. It's certainly something to look back on in the years to come... especially for the Class of '09, as it was our Brother Rats leadin' this shindig! But I'll be honest, standin' out there in the cold as we were waiting to step off, exhausted from very little sleep on the bus after having morning formation at 0400, all I was thinkin' about was the fact that we're one day closer to graduation. It'll be nice to be an Alum one day so I can forget about the cold and the exhaustion and only remember the good stuff!
By the way, I'm with the band. And I play cymbals. Again, in case anyone cares.
Jackie M. Briski '09
First Class PVT
Chief Cymbal Monkey
THANKS FOR THE LINK! I missed it on TV.. you all did great!
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Mardi Gras
Which parade will you be marching in? I am from N.O. ! My daughter will be visiting for several of the parades. She would love to go see THE VMI BAND.
PS. You all looked and sounded spectacular at the inaugural parade. I actually saw my son. Class of 2012 Alpha Co.
Which parade will you be marching in? I am from N.O. ! My daughter will be visiting for several of the parades. She would love to go see THE VMI BAND.
PS. You all looked and sounded spectacular at the inaugural parade. I actually saw my son. Class of 2012 Alpha Co.