A Much Deserved Award

Monday, Kris was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal. It was totally unexpected, but he completely deserved it. He received the award for a two month period (September through November 2005) during the time of the performances at Tokyo in the Buddakhan. In other words, he worked his butt off to bring together a wonderful drum feature that got rave reviews.
This award is generally not given to Sergeants and most certainly not given for such a short period of time. It is normally given to Staff NCO's after a tour of duty (3 years +). For those of you who don't know, this award is a huge deal in the military community.
One of the Gunnery Sergeants in the band called me on Friday to let me know that he got the award. I had to keep it a secret over the weekend. Needless to say, I was so excited for him. When the kids and I showed up at the band hall on Monday afternoon, I had to lie to Kris and tell him we were just visiting the band's mascot, Chopper, the dog. He didn't really believe me and then when the announcement came for everyone to meet in the large rehearsal hall, he knew something was afoot.
While the Master Sergeant was reading the award, Kris's eyes got really big and almost made the Band Officer laugh. Kris was expecting a smaller award, which would've been just fine, so you can imagine how he felt when the words 'Commendation Medal' hit home. It almost made him cry.

For me, it's nice to see him getting recognition for all his hard work. No, it's not a raise in pay or rank, but it is very satisfying to know that the other Marines he works with know the value of his work.
Along with another Marine, he's been put in charge of writing the entire show for the Tokyo performance this year. This is a huge responsibility and I know there will be many nights where we won't see him, but this is what he loves to do and I support him 100%.
Great job honey! I'm so very proud of you!