Military Officer - August 2008 - (Page 80)

encore Wedding Bliss Many women dream of a perfect wedding from childhood. But as this blushing bride quickly learns, planning a wedding is far from easy — especially when the military has a say! I n 1964, I was a shiny new lieutenant in the ofﬁce of the Naval Commandant in Washington, D.C., while my ﬁancé, Ward, toiled in a Polish language course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. After his graduation, Ward would report to the Pentagon, I’d stay at my job, and we’d leisurely plan our spring wedding. But instead of ordering Ward to the Pentagon, the Navy assigned him to Bremerhaven, Germany. There were no billets for women in Germany. And, for my household goods to be transported at the government’s expense, we’d have to rush to get married. With Ward cramming for his ﬁnal exams before his cross-country dash to Washington, D.C., I suddenly was solely responsible for our wedding plans. What did I know about weddings? I knew about port and starboard, the military Code of Conduct, and how to spit-shine shoes. Ward was even worse. While on the phone, instead of discussing music for our ceremony, all he did was mumble — conjugating Polish verbs! Would he conjugate his wedding vows? My next problem erupted when I telephoned my invitations. (There was no time for printed ones.) No one wanted to come to the wedding — not even the Navy chaplain. Everyone hemmed and hawed, and I grew concerned — until one friend conﬁded I’d scheduled the ceremony during the hallowed Army-Navy football game. Everyone ﬁnally accepted when I delayed the ceremony four hours. 80 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2008 The reception was — well, I’ve given more elegant parties to welcome my cat home from the vet. Six balloons and two candles do not create a festival bridal air. However, it was all I had time for, and even Martha Stewart could not have given a festive glow to my efﬁciency apartment. With my slim budget, Seymour, the local convenience store owner, provided a bowl of potato chips and a ﬂat, pale sheet cake the consistency of Twinkies. There had been more reﬁnement at the grand opening of the local landﬁll! At least I had champagne. Unfortunately, there isn’t a picture of this reﬁnement because I forgot to hire a photographer. Actually, I’m grateful there’s no picture of us: Ward in a brown (!) suit — where was his uniform? — and me in my wedding dress that ﬁt as tight as sausage casing and had two-inch thick brocade. Two days later, as we raced through the airport, the latch on our suitcase broke. A magazine vendor came to the rescue with a hemp cord. It looked fragile, but it stayed securely knotted throughout our long journey — as has the marriage knot we tied in such confusion and chaos 44 years ago! MO —Barbara Bradlyn Morris is a former Navy lieutenant. She now is an author and freelance writer. ILLUSTRATION: ELWOOD SMITH

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - August 2008

Military Officer - August 2008 Contents MOAA Online From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor MOAA Member Services Cover Story: A Stronger Voice Virtual Combat Mental Floss Steady as She Goes Pages of History Faces of MOAA Member Books Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Scholarship Donors Encore

Military Officer - August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.