Saturday, August 1, 2009

Greetings from Maine!

While sometimes having a husband in the Marines can be grueling, every now and then you get to attend some pretty cool events. This weekend we are up in Bath, Maine attending the christening of the DDG-109 USS Jason Dunham. This christening was near and dear to the Marines as it is named after a fallen Marine and Medal of Honor recipient, Corporal Jason Dunham. Todd was incredibly honored to be invited to support a fallen Marine and I was incredibly excited to be his plus one. This was definitely not something you see everyday.

The ceremony was beautiful with speeches from several Congressmen, the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, and the former Commandant, Michael Hagee. It was a very emotional day and ended with Corporal Dunham's mother dedicating the ship to her son and hitting it with a bottle of champagne. I can only imagine what an honor it is for his family.


All dressed up.


Ok seriously, Marine dress blues have to be to best looking uniform, hands down. How can you not swoon looking at these guys?

Walking up to the ship


Waiting for the ceremony to start

View from our seats


Listening to the Secretary of the Navy's speech

General Hagee

Corporal Dunham's mom and sister
The boys with some kids in the NJROTC. These kids were in complete awe of these guys.

Gunny and Mrs.


I learned today that when these boys are in uniform people will bend over backward for them. If I lifted my camera, 5 people would hurry over and offer to take the picture. People were constantly coming over to talk to them, offer them drinks, food...anything. It was very neat to see how appreciated they are.

1 comment:

Lindsay and Bill said...

That is really amazing, Shannon. What an honor to be there for the dedication. I am sure you are such a proud wife!