A Dress Blue/White Parade

Last week Chad invited me to a "Parade" on base that he had to go to. Neither of us really knew what this was, but we knew it was a community event, with lots of Marines and Sailors in their dress blues and whites.

The night was very structured. Starting with the Navy band, then the bagpipes. There was then a long procession of men and women in uniform - starting with the entire history of Marine uniforms and epic events throughout their existence. Then officers, then a march of all the units on the base. There was even a retierment ceremony thrown in. A very impressive part was the inter-service drill. There were 4 Marines and 4 Sailors with rifles - throwing them, spinning them, up the line down the line - they looked as thought they were dancing, all in perfect sync. An announcer was explaining everything, who they were, why they were saying what they were saying, why certain things were done as such. It was very well choreographed.









The best part was the end, when they gave a 21 gun salute and re-enacted the Iwo Jima Memorial Statue.

Apparently they have these parades about once a month. This one was very much about the history of the Marines, I am hoping the next might focus on the Navy.