My Night at the Ball

Last night I had a once in a life time opportunity (most likely) to attend the March Field Military Ball, "An Anniversary Salute". Let me tell you, it was incredible. Like nothing I had seen before, accepting maybe the changing of the guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. The Ball began with me putting on my really nice formal gown (brand new, $25, Salvation Army), the cute little jacket my mom made me to make it modest, sitting for half an hour while mom made my hair just right, then spending the next two hours helping others get ready. Then we drove out to Riverside, all VERY hungry, and walked through the foyer of alcohol-thirsty Ball go-ers and wedding attendees from the room next door, and into the Ballroom. It was incredible! We found our table at the very front, right next to the stage (it helps when the one taking you to the Ball has a father that's a colonel and is #2 over all the base[love ya Bri]) then pushed my dear friend's mom in her wheelchair to the back to find the bed set up for her. After about 30 minutes of trying to locate said bed, we finally found it, then got to sit down at our table with all our names typed out on cute little cards and a delicious looking salad already set out. (Remember, by this point we were even hungrier.) BUT, military protocol forbade us from touching it. In fact, here all the March Field Military Ball "Rules of Engagement":
1. Thou shalt wear the appropriate attire
2. Thou shalt be seated in the dining room prior to 1845 hours
3. Thou shalt not leave the dining room or cause disturbance during military ceremonies. Military protocol overrides all calls of nature or thirst for beverage
4. Thou shalt give respect to whomever commands the floor
5. Thou shalt not consume thy meal until the Wing Commander announces, "Dinner is Served"
6 Though shalt consume thy meal in a manner becoming a gentleperson
7. Thou shalt not engage in allowing any portion of thy meal to become airborne
8 Thou shalt enjoy thyself to the fullest without offending the local constabulary

Once everyone was seated, the Honored Guests were introduced (I was a guest of an honored guest...very fun), the Distinguished Visitors were introduced, and then my favorite part of the entire night began. The flags were presented from each branch of the Armed Forces with members of those forces presenting them, and to see the regal of those men was astonishing. Everything was perfect and pristine, exact to a T, exactly like you would want the protecting you to behave. To see each flag get walked up the aisle, then slowly bowed down (I never learned the technical term for the flags being lowered as they were presented) and raised up. After the Armed Forces' flags came the California flag, and then, finally, the American Flag. Little can ever be seen as patriotically beautiful as a man in uniform solemnly carrying that flag up to join the others, and then seeing the American Flag stay upright as the others all, (in perfect unison, might I add) bowed under it. Incredible. After the National Anthem was sung, the flags were posted in another beautiful ceremony. A brief prayer followed, then came the POW/MIA service. Did you know that at all formal military gatherings where there is eating involved, a place is set for the POW/MIA's that would have been there were they not at that moment lost? Another ceremony took place where the same men who carried the flags carried a hat from their military branch and placed it, in a very uniform and ceremonial way, on the table. The symbolism of everything on and about the table was read aloud, and one POW/MIA from each branch was named and saluted, one lost as recent as the 90's, one lost as long ago as the Cold War.
The Airmen's Creed was featured, then came the Honor Guard. Six men from around the country bearing rifles or a saber came in and, to a cadence perfectly practiced and polished, proceeded to throw real, functioning rifles with a real bayonet fixed to the end to each other and in the air and down their backs. It was amazing incredible insane...still searching for the right word. The way it was set up was there were four riflemen in a square, one man in the center with his saber how did not move the entire time except to walk on and off stage, and one other rifleman who stood a bit of a ways off and simply watched, but all men were in perfect formation, and NEVER broke cadence. Now this wasn't your color guard baton tossing foolishness. Oh no! This was let's toss our bayonetted rifles through the air then catch them in rhythm with the pointy ends ON the Saberman's throat...in unison. Or lets all put our rifles in the air then suddenly place them all down, one at a time, so the pointy ends make a box around Saberman's head! Then let's toss them in the air and roll them down our backs and catch them, then throw them at each other!!!!! Their prestige was phenomenal. But then the unexpected happened. One of the men dropped his rifle. You could hear a pin drop; the room was silent. No one moved, I was in shock. How could he drop his rifle? With that much training and work and honor... did they still flog people in the military? But...get this...still, there was no lapse in the cadence. We were able to see what the sixth man was for. Every man in the formation froze exactly where they were. The man who dropped his came to attention. The sixth man marched up, placed his rifle in the man's hands, then picked up the dropped rifle and marched back to his place. As soon as he was back in place, the cadence began again, as if nothing had ever stopped it.
Finally! A very nice dinner was served, and the bar was opened, and people drank and danced and danced and drank. I made friends with the uniformed techies in the back with Bri's mom. Then we went home...around midnight. Bri and I made videos in the back of the car on the way, I went into an empty convenience store in the middle of the night IN my dress, and then I got home and crashed in bed. We DID get a Novelty Anniversary Wine glass, an awesome novelty March Anniversary coin, a sweet name tag with "Miss Thompson" on it, a really good use out of a cheap dress, and, of course, the memories.
What I learned:
Military is awesome. Uniforms are handsome. Drunk people are FUNNY dancers.
More people need to see/have/feel the respect those men gave to their nation, their flags, their comrades in arms, and their honor. Nothing can beat it.