Saturday, June 21, 2008

Who's the guy with the beard?

As you might have heard, I recently retired after 20 years in the Marine Corps. I had a unique and very enjoyable retirement ceremony, and would like to share the story with you here.

The typical Marine retirement consists mainly of the retiring officer telling the story of the retiree's military career, saying what a great guy he is, and pinning on a medal. Then the retiree gets to talk, thanking his family, boss, coworkers, etc. Then everyone eats BBQ or chicken wings, and talks about work until it's time to leave.

Being anything but a typical Marine, of course I wanted my ceremony to be different. First of all, no BBQ. I've been to so many retirements where I ate a coleslaw sandwich (or the like), I decided to have my reception catered from a vegetarian restaurant. Second, rather than talk, I wanted to play my guitar and sing. Finally, I wanted my Marine friends to hear about the rest of my life outside the Corps.

So I invited four close friends from my "other lives" - Bull Run UUs, The Shambhala Center of Washington D.C, the Capitol NVC Organizing Team, and the Men's Council of Washington D.C. - to talk after the Colonel had his say. And there was a twist - I asked them to relate how they experience their relationships with me, rather than talk about my activities and accomplishments. My desire here was to paint a picture of a human being as well as a human doing.

It was everything I wished for - Reverend Nancy, Larry, Jeanne, and Duane all spoke from the heart, and I experienced great joy in bringing together so many diverse people in one place. This was really an opportunity to practice integrity - no chance to play any role but "I am" with people from every corner of my life in the room.

Once everyone had spoken, I had little to say. I gave flowers and gifts to my loved ones, spoke my gratitude and appreciation for all who had spoken, and performed an original song in honor of my contractor buddies (now fellow contractors). Then we ate vegetarian food, drank organic juice, and talked about UUism, buddhism, NVC, and men's work until it was time to go home.

Funny thing, all the Marines seemed to leave right away - I guess they missed the BBQ and beer.

6 comments:

Jenn said...

Guess leaving can be awkward, Citizen Greg.

Trevor Laurie said...

I have only recently stumbled across this website and wanted to say that I appreciate all of the posts made and the commentary about the sometimes conflicting nature of a liberal faith and military service. Thank you.

Sean Honea said...

I too have only recently found your blog and look forward to looking through your archives.

I am former army and a UU that's about to held off to Seminary at Starr King. I'm considering a Naval Chaplancy as one of my options -- campus ministry is the other strong contender. I look forward to reading your blog.

I've posted my own thoughts towards rejoining the service on my blog:

http://stonesoupuu.blogspot.com/2008/07/mission-to-military-in-navy.html

Any advice / insights are more than welcome.

-Sean

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Greg, for some inspiration. At my 22-year point, I am looking forward to someday planning my retirement ceremony. For me keeping my eyes dry saying goodbye to a shipmate is difficult. I, too, want to find a fitting and powerful way to say goodbye and share with integrity what my service, the service of my comrades, and the sacrifice of my family means to me and to all of us.

Thank you for your service and your ideas.

V/R
LT Frank Coon, USN

Ann Jacobson said...

Greg, Congratulations on achieving this important milestone in your life. I know you are going to (continue to) do great things!

Anonymous said...

haha...nice post greg.you have great ideas.

http://allaboutmilitary.blogspot.com