Gameday in My Army/Navy Neighborhood

The annual Army/Navy game gets a lot of attention in my neighborhood. I'm a Navy vet; my father and grandfather served in the Navy, as did my wife's father and grandfather.  

Our neighbors have an emotional investment in the game, too. All year long, the Browns display an Army flag in their yard, honoring their three sons who have served in the Army National Guard. 

Every year, a few days before the game, I put up a few "Go Navy, Beat Army" signs in my front yard. I'm not talking about discreet reminders. I'm talking sawhorses, aimed at the Browns' front porch. 

Somewhere along the line, the Browns' Army flag shows up in my yard. Their sons launched these stealthy flag-planting missions when they were young guardsmen. Those soldiers are raising their own families now, but their parents have maintained the tradition.

Eventually, Saturday's game comes. Whenever a team scores, I step out the kitchen door with my beat-up trumpet and serenade the neighborhood with that team's service song.

"Anchors Aweigh" got no airtime this year. Navy lost, and I don't like it one stinking bit.

But, win or lose, the tradition endures. Every year, after the game, I replant the Browns' Army flag in their front yard. And, on those years when Army has won, I stand in front of the Brown's house in the frigid Illinois prairie wind and play the Army Song.

This ritual is not self-punishment; it's the ceremonial manner by which I acknowledge my loss and move on. Losing is part of life, the bitter seasoning that gives victory its flavor. 

That's easy to say when you've won. But it's good to remember when you're standing on the tundra, trying to remember valve fingerings.

Shipmate Frank: Dealing with B.S.

The 1980 School of Music Army/Navy game taught me an important lesson.

Until We Meet Once More...

"See you next year, shipmate."

"I swear this stuff fit in the
car when we drove here."

If we'd had an NMA reunion this year, right now we'd be turning in our hotel keys and rolling luggage carts to our cars. The words "See you next year" would echo throughout the hotel.

When we return home from a reunion, we quickly resume our regularly-scheduled lives. In my case, this often includes a visit from Navy Band Great Lakes for Navy Week in my western Illinois area. Later in July, I usually spend a week at the University of Iowa City Summer Writing Festival. In August, my wife and I take a weekend anniversary trip.

Like the reunion, these events are ingrained into my summer. And, like the reunion, they're not happening this year. If there's such a thing as a "return to normal," I haven't seen it on the calendar.

MUs like to know the schedule. Ashore, we congregate in the passageway around the gig board and pencil updates into notebooks. At sea, we ignore the chief's droning voice at morning quarters until he says, "Change thirteen," when our ears suddenly become finely-calibrated sonar receivers.

It's all different this year, as we face future packed with unknowns.

But although we're not milling around the hotel lobby this morning, jiggling our car keys and sharing last hugs, one thing is exactly the same as it always on our last Sunday together:

There's only a year to go until the NMA reunion!

Final NMA Reunion in Review: 2019

Carl Gerhard leads concert band in rehearsal
of "Americ, the Beautiful," featuring vocalist
MUC Audra Radliff.

We'll finish our week of NMA reunions with last year's bash in Milwaukee.

Carl Gerhard, our reunion coordinator, put this one together in style. Our hotel rooms were comfortable and spacious, our working spaces convenient, and the staff more than accomodating.

And, speaking of style, our Saturday-night dinner/dance featured a visit from Navy Band Great Oakes. The ceremonial band thrilled us and Chief Radliff sent a few jolts of electricity through the ballroom with her rendition of "America, the Beautiful."

We thanked Wilbur Smith for his years of dedicated service as conductor of the concert band and cheered as he announced that Ray Ascione had agreed to take the helm of that vital ensemble.

To enjoy day-by-day NavyLyres coverage of the 2017 reunion chronologically:

• Click here, then 
• Scroll down and read posts from bottom to top.

NMA Reunion in Review: 2015

The 2015 reunion stands out in our minds for a few reasons.

Our 20th anniversary reunion drew a record number of MUs. Attendance at our first concert band rehearsal is often terrifyingly small. But this year, the first rehearsal was overflowing, and the band got bigger every day. Naturally, the full attendance carried over to a full sound at our Friday-night concert.

We visited our alma mater, now called the Naval School of Music. The newly-renovated facility may not feature ivy-covered walls, but the building still echoes with the haunting memories of buffers, Brillo pads and vacuum cleaners.

To enjoy day-by-day NavyLyres coverage of the 2015 reunion chronologically:

• click here, then 
• scroll down and read posts from bottom to top.

NMA Reunion in Review: 2008

Today is a visit back to my first NMA Reunion Live-Blog: Memphis in 2008.

I'd like to say that it's crude coverage, my first dive into something that got better with time and experience. I'd also like to say that J-Lo just dropped by and handed me a check for $600 million dollars.

My arch-enemy Lee Hudson, was in attendance. The back-stabbing bum and I hadn't seen each other since 1985, and time had not improved the relationship between that back-stabbing, high-pitched-whining, tuba-mauling buffoon and me. Like typical Navy shipmates, we picked up right where we'd left off.

To enjoy day-by-day NavyLyres coverage of the 2017 reunion chronologically, click here, then scroll down and read posts from bottom to top.