Marine Week St Louis

I finally get a chance to write about a long anticipated event, well long anticipated for me (Josh) anyway. Sometime near the end of May I noticed, on my daily commute to a far far away land, that there were billboards advertising Marine Week St. Louis. A couple of weeks went by before I checked out the website for a list of events, and I was so excited to see that the Marine Band and Silent Drill Platoon would be performing and that there would be a demonstration of a Marine Corps landing by air, land, and sea. YES! This was my chance to relive the glory days! I have always wanted to see the Silent Drill Platoon and now they were coming to me! So, I acted like a kid in a candy store when I told Stephanie, and she, most likely just to appease me because I was acting so pathetic, said we should definitely go! We made plans to spend the entire day down by the Arch and enjoy the festivities.
My magical day finally came after weeks of waiting and checking out videos of the Silent Drill Platoon and other Marine things. We took Michael to swimming lessons (more like let's play in the water, but it's fun), and headed to the Arch. There was a Sea Knight helicopter front and center as you approached the Arch, with a Huey and Cobra under the Arch. They had a line of weaponry that was familiar to me; the MK-19 grenade launcher, .50 cal machine gun, M-240 golf machine gun, etc. There were also static displays of the type of vehicles I drove while in Iraq, namely the uparmored HMMWV (Hummer), 7-ton, and MRAP. Sadly we didn't get pictures with the Hummer, but here are the other two.


(L) Michael and Daddy in turret of 7-ton. (R) In front of the MRAP (mine wasn't painted with flashy flames like this one is).

After checking out the trucks we went to take a look at the choppers. I must admit I didn't realize we were in line for the Huey, I'm not really up-to-date on my helicopter identification (I thought we were in line for the Cobra :p duh me).


Michael and Daddy in the Huey.

Apparently you can parachute out of the Huey, six men per chopper. I never realized they did that out of Hueys.
One of the things I was looking forward to most was the demonstration of landing forces by air, land and sea. After looking at the helicopters we realized there was quite the crowd forming on the hill overlooking the Mississippi so we decided we had better get over there so we could hopefully see. We ended up getting front row in the standing section and had a good view of the river. Poor Michael didn't like to wait around doing nothing for an hour, and he ended up falling asleep before the demonstration started.


(L) Michael and Mommy waiting for the show to start. (R) Michael after a cracker overdose.


View from under the Arch.

THE MARINES HAVE LANDED!


(L) CH-53 Super Stallion (R) MV-22 Osprey


Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) making a landing


LAV-25's standing guard

It was a truly amazing spectacle! Motorized rafts carrying teams of Recon Marines came in the first wave, followed by the Super Stallion and Osprey. Next came the Sea Knight with Marines fast roping out the back, then the fly by Harrier. Two AAV's up out of the Mississippi while two LAV-25's rolled in. As incredibly awesome as everything was, I would have to say the best part was when the Harrier showed off its hovering abilities. After this incredible machine did two passes over the crowd, it came to a hover over the Mighty Mississipi, then with its unique engines traversed side to side, forward and backward, and a lateral 360 (I don't know else to describe it except that the wings remained horizontal and the plane pivoted around its center). It was louder than anything I've heard in a long time, and more amazing than any air show I've seen. The Harrier was developed to get Marines in and out of tight spaces, and it performs amazingly! Unfortunately we didn't get pictures of this portion, but pictures wouldn't do justice. We did get video though, and I'll work on getting that up as soon as I can.
Ok, settle down... I like to get excited sometimes. We decided after all the wonder and amazement that we were getting hungry and wanted to get out of the heat, so we went to the best bakery/resturaunt in St. Louis, the St. Louis Bread Co. Amazing! Too bad they were out of broccoli cheddar bread bowls :( We still enjoyed our lunch, and Michael enjoyed playing peek-a-boo! Well, his version of it anyway!


Yes, we love our little Michael! With bellies filled and bodies refreshed we headed back to the Arch to wait for the Silent Drill Platoon and Albany Marine Corps Band. Stephanie's parents, Steve and Jo, joined us for the evening festivities.


Have to keep Michael entertained somehow.

We enjoyed the great music and precision formations from the band, including their incredible drum line. And the moment I was waiting for the entire day came when the Silent Drill Platoon stepped out to perform. Amazing precision and skill! I could go on, but I've said enough, so I'll end with these last photos. Thanks for sharing a moment with us from this fun and memorable day!



So these videos aren't mine, obviously, but this is what we saw.
http://youtu.be/jzU8UC9w1qM
http://youtu.be/JV21bTSH8VE
http://youtu.be/D4MnOpPocIs