Old Glory
flies proudly next to the 508th's regimental standard
(courtesy Ellen Peters) | 
508th Color Guard
did a fine job in presentation of colors
(courtesy Ellen Peters) |
 Posterity
Shot
one last photo of the color guard for the family albums
(courtesy of Irv Shanley) |
National Anthem
brings the crowd to their feet with hands placed over their hearts as they
recited the Pledge of Allegiance |
Opening Ceremony
Blanding Museum & Memorial Park Curator
Greg Parsons (Major, FL National Guard) welcomes the 508th and introduces key
speakers |
|
 Retirement Ceremony Invocation
was made by by U.S. Army Chaplain LTC Jim M. Fogle-Miller who is also a paratrooper.
The Colonel prayed for strength and peace (see text at right) and then told an anecdotal tale.
Col. Fogle-Miller mentioned that his father had been in the Army and that he had died while on active duty.
Jokingly the chaplain stated that when he meets his Dad "on the other side" he will call him a "Leg", a derisive term meaning that he had been a ground forces soldier and not a parachutist as his son
became.
| Invocation
You, O God are the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Today men of the 508th P.I.R. gather to mark an end to what they began here more than 60 years ago. As you were with them in that beginning, so be with them now.
Send to them in these moments a strong awareness of your abiding presence, Lord.Also let the spirit of every deceased and absent Red Devil stand strong with these living soldiers of the regiment who gather here today. Stand in the forefront of our ranks, and let the spirits of those unseen fall in behind us. With us surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, make and mark this time as holy, O Lord Most High. Grant this blessing, we pray.
Amen. |
