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 Blue 4/17:
G'day Don, What a day, now I remember the reason why we joined the Navy and not
the Army.. oops, I forgot some fool ( me ) joined the Army Reserves too.
The day started at 0510 with a wake up call by Ralph Luther, I stagger out of
bed and get dressed in to my Confederate uniform, had breakfast and then we
headed off to the city if Charleston for a 0600 registration. Joined a line
that ended up being a 'practice' line, after 15 minutes we get told the
registration will happen later on...mutter, mutter... 5 minutes later, John
'Steamboat' Fulton and myself just walk up to the table and register ourselves,
"too easy.
We then find some people to join in with and latch on to them for the rest of
the day. This is now at around 0630...we spend the next 3 1/2 hours falling in,
marching 10 paces, the order 'Rest Arms' is given and 5 minutes later, "Fall
In" march 10 paces etc etc...
1030 the actual Parade is marched off... "hooray"... we march through the
streets of Charleston, a fantastic crowd have turned out for the the event, the
weather is fantastic ( of course ) and away we go, dodging the mine fileds laid
out by the Cavalry. There was no applause as we marched through the city, quite
different to my previous experiences but then I remembered it is a funeral
after all.
The march is about 4 miles long, when you are wearing in a pair of new boots, it
feels like 40 miles... of course I have sore feet and a whopping blister that
popped at around mile 1... uncomfortable for sure. Whenever we stopped, due to
the back up, we were always asked "where are you from"? "North Virginia" is the
reply, with the occasional..."Australia"!! *_*
We eventually make it to the Cemetary, fall in behind the Dias and listen to the
usual speeches and Blessings. The heat ( 80 - 85 f ) is taking it's toll on
some of the wimps in the parade, but not me, no sir -eee! By the time we leave
for the march out, we have been reduced from 20 to about 12. We get stuck down
the pathway for what seems an eternity and we are obviously not going anywhere
ina hurry, we hear the 50 gun salute and our CO informs us that we can dismiss
if we wish. John and I decide that after being on our feet for the last 10
hours with no food other than breakfast, we shall call it quits and head back
to Ralph's place.
All in all, a very interesting day for me, seeing everyone dressed in the period
costumes, and the women looked fantastic! I would have loved to have actually
seen the ceremony's closer to hand but the whole day was great... and tiring!!
Tomorrow I head back up to NYC and AtoZ for a rest day before flying out to
England on the 20th. What a journey this has been... many thanks to Steamboat
for inviting me to take part, it has indeed been an honour to do so!!
Blue *_*
Click on photos to view larger size:
  
Blue and Steamboat. A couple of Southern Belles.
  
Blue looking sharp and watching out for gators. Blue and Steamboat: Hurry up
and wait!
  
Blue on the Battery. Steamboat takes his turn. Steamboat ready to answer
the call.
 
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