Woo-hoo!  Spring break is here!  My sons, particularly my oldest, are so thrilled.  This morning was the first day of Spring break…how did I know?  Why, because they slept through Reveille, of course. 

My oldest came running into my office, with breath to choke a goat and fresh up from sleep, panicked because he had just heard the music play.  He thought he was late for school.  I reminded him that it was his spring holiday and he could go back to bed if he wanted to.  He looked at me with this relieved grin and said, “So, do I still have to go stand on the deck, face the music and not move for ‘the morning song?’”

See, normally, when the bugles play to announce the reveille ceremony and flag raising, it is our cue to head to the car or we’ll be late for school.  More days than not, we wind up caught on the deck, hands over our hearts, humming, with the boys trying hard not to belch during “The Star Spangled Banner.” Our children are taught, like all military kids on a military installation, to stop whatever it is they are doing (including fighting, jumping on the trampoline, and ripping apart bugs), turn to the flag (or the music) and remain still. 

I looked at David this morning and in response to him said, “Nah.  Don’t worry about it.  You only have to do it when we’re outside.”  He shrugged, and replied, “Well, could you wake me up tomorrow anyway?  I want to go outside and face the music.  I want Dad to know I’m proud of him.”  Wow.  Just wow. 

 

Interesting notes:

United States Code, 36 USC Sec. 301 mandates etiquette for the flag raising

 

“The Star Spangled Banner” was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a Congressional resolution on 3 March 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 USC §301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.