Last night, my husband’s unit celebrated the 236th birthday of the Marine Corps with the traditional birthday ball. I have been looking forward to going all year. We haven’t been to a ball since 2008. He promised me last year that we would go to this one, and I held him to it!
This year, it was held in the Greenville Convention Center. That is about a two hour drive, and so we got a room in the Hilton, which is on-site at the convention center. Very convenient, because then Matt could drink all he wanted and I wouldn’t have to worry about driving home to Camp Lejeune around midnight. We had plenty of time to get ready in our room, didn’t have to drive all the way in my dress and his blues, and when it was over, could just collapse into bed. Great, great decision to stay there.
One of the little quirks that was slightly annoying was that we had assigned seating. That fact in and of itself wasn’t so bad — the seating was assigned by company and rank, so we sat at a table of corporals from H&S company — but what was frustrating is that we have a very, very large battalion. We have about 1200 Marines and sailors in our battalion. And there was no seating chart… just a card on the center of each table that would say the company and the table number, and the names of the parties sitting at that table. So everyone was walking around the hundreds and hundreds of tables, peering at these little cards, trying to figure out where they were sitting. It was pretty funny, actually — we found our table relatively quickly, but a couple of friends of ours couldn’t find theirs, and in desperation before the ceremony began just sat down at a random table with some people they knew.
Anyway, we found our table and were well settled in when the ceremony started. I couldn’t see anything. But I could hear everything, and really, that was all that mattered. Our battalion CO gave a short speech, and then introduced our guest of honor: the legendary Major General Ray “E-Tool” Smith. His speech was great. It started with an emphasis on pronouncing General Lejeune’s name correctly (Luh-jern), because as General Smith said, he is the single most important Marine in Marine Corps history, so the least we can do is pronounce his name correctly. He also spoke a lot about killing commies (which made me laugh) and about Vietnam.
Shortly after that, we had the annual Commandant’s birthday message. And holy cow… this video made me cry. A lot. I was desperately wiping away tears as quickly as I could in fear that it would ruin my makeup.
It was a very emotional video, which seemed different from the messages I’ve seen the past few years. But it was an excellent birthday message, and was definitely inspiring and motivating. It was a reminder of why we live the life that we do, and why we sacrifice as a family.
Another touching moment was when our battalion CO pointed out the empty black table in the front, to signify our fallen Marines. It had a single lit candle, a Purple Heart, and dog tags. It was touching in its simplicity, remembering those who have shed blood in defense of our country, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their last full measure of devotion to their country. He also recognized some of our wounded warriors from our most recent deployment, who received a standing ovation from most of the people in attendance, although sadly not from all. The Marines all stood up and applauded. I noticed that sadly, very few wives did.
And that was another frustrating thing about the ceremony. I know not everyone is a moto wife like I am, I get that. But there is no excuse for flat-out disrespect. I saw one wife, for example, while the colors were being presented and we were all asked to stand, get out of her seat and slam it onto the ground, cross her arms, and give a little huff of anger while rolling her eyes. Other wives remained firmly in their seats during various parts of the ceremony, or wouldn’t clap for the speeches or for the various Marines who were recognized. It was rude, disrespectful, and extremely inappropriate.
A good number of people left directly after dinner, too. I know for some people its just a thing they feel like they have to do, since the ceremony is mandatory for the Marines, but come on… you paid almost $90 to be there, you might as well enjoy yourselves!
Of course, there were also the rare few who enjoyed themselves too much. One couple in particular stands out for me. It was towards the very end of the night, and they were one of the last couples left on the dance floor. As me and a few of my friends watched, this Marine and his date grinded on each other as they danced. He took off his blouse (a no-no in your dress blues), and then they went and sat down. Or, rather, he sat down. She climbed onto his lap, straddling him, and starting making out with him, all the while grinding away as if they were having sex right in front of everyone. They kept on going for a few minutes, and then he stood up, with her legs still wrapped around him, and the two of them still making out. Honestly, if they had started having sex on the dance floor I don’t know if I would have been surprised. And this morning, as we were leaving, we noticed several Marines walking from up the street (from the opposite direction of the convention center) still in their blues, albeit in various stages of undress. No idea where they came from or what they were doing, but it made us chuckle.
And who can forget the fashion? I was very, very happy to see that for the most part, the ladies of our unit presented themselves very well. Most of us were dressed beautifully and appropriately for the event. But of course, there were the wives dressed like skanks and like they were going to an after-church Sunday cocktail party. It never fails. I don’t understand the new trend with all the cut-outs, by the way. I mean, some little ones that are done tastefully I can understand. But who would want to wear a dress with the majority of the fabric gone? I mean, really… if your belly button is showing, then its not appropriate for the ball. Its also not appropriate if your see-you-next-Tuesday is almost showing, or if your buttcheeks are showing, or if your dress has a v-neck down to your stomach. Have some class, people.
Likewise, please, please, please, stop with the short dresses. This is a black-tie event. That means wear a formal dress, not a cocktail dress. Cocktail dresses are for when your Marine is in Alphas, not in his dress blues. And it is not about you, anyways. I know a lot of girls think they can just wear whatever they want to wear, but the Marine Corps ball is about the Marines present, not their dates. It is incredibly frustrating to me when I see women wear skanky or informal dresses. Show some respect to your Marine and to the Corps, for God’s sake. And I’ve seen many girls give the advice to just wear what you want because no one will notice, but let me put it out there right now — everyone notices. Everyone does. And they talk about it. They talk about what the wives are wearing, and not necessarily in a positive way. The bad dresses stand out more than the good ones do, and those are the ones people talk about.
One of the highlights of the night was getting to meet General Smith. We went to say hello, and it turns out he and Matt got along extremely well. They talked and talked and talked and talked, and would have kept on talking, until I pulled Matt away. We had been there chatting with him for at least twenty minutes, and there was another Marine and his wife waiting there the entire time wanting to meet him as well. One funny moment — when Matt told me General Smith was coming, he told me that he was famous for his nickname E-Tool, which he got because he killed 19 people with an E-Tool. I figured it was just an urban legend, which was what I told Matt. Well, my husband just went ahead and asked him about it, and when General Smith told him that no, it wasn’t true, poor Matt just looked so sad and disappointed! And then General Smith leaned in and said, “I killed someone with my bare hands though once — does that count??” He was delightful to get to talk to, and it was a huge honor to get to be able to meet him.
Anyways, Matt and I had a great time last night. We really needed the time alone together, for one — we get next to no time as a couple with the baby these days — and it was really wonderful to be able to just have the time for the two of us to be together as husband and wife, not mom and dad. It really was an incredible evening, and the unit did a fantastic job of putting the event together. Honestly, it is the best ball I’ve been to yet. I already can’t wait for next year’s.
