JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - The base opened its arms Saturday, welcoming residents of surrounding communities to the annual Armed Forces Day celebration hosted by the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.
Armed Forces Day is observed nationwide on the third Saturday of May. According to I Corps' Command Sgt. Maj. Frank A. Grippe, it gives JBLM a chance to join together with the local community to "celebrate in a big way.
"We're the most magnificent military in the world," Grippe said. "And the American taxpayers should be allowed to come out here and interact with the (military) community."
Held at Cowan and Memorial Stadiums, the event had something for everybody.
Children and adults not only had the opportunity to climb around in many of the military vehicles JBLM has to offer, such as the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and the post's signature Stryker Combat Vehicle, but they also were treated to various military and civilian music groups, stilt walkers, clowns, and even a roving reptile zoologist.
The main attraction for many was the Living Military History Experience, where role-players dressed in historical military uniforms ranging from the Renaissance to the war in Vietnam and re-enacted battles for the crowd's enjoyment.
"It brings the people a sense of our history and history that goes beyond our borders," said Mark Harris of Enumclaw, a World War I re-enactor. "There's more to history than just old, dusty textbooks. This brings it alive."
Representatives from the Air Force were also on hand to show the public some of their equipment and capabilities. Their static displays ranged from weapons displays provided by combat arms instructors to unique weather equipment presented by members of the 1st Air Support Operations Group.
JBLM is opened to the general public only two or three times a year and, although most attending the event were service members, retirees and their families, Elizabeth Thunstedt, special events coordinator for FMWR, said that at least 20 percent of the more than 15,000 at the event were from the civilian community.
"It's important to do an event like this because it shows the community what we do," Thunstedt said. "They hear about us in the news and they see us out in our civilian lives, but it's good to bring them here and show them who we are."
"As I tell people when I'm out in the community, 'Don't let the fence around this installation fool you,'" Grippe said. "The fence should be transparent in the fact that numerous members of the community work here on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and about 60 percent of our families and Soldiers live off the base and in the local communities."
"I think it gives them a perspective that it's not us and them - the military and the civilian life," Harris said. "We're all Americans. This is our country - it's our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, friends and relatives who are serving."
Is a assigned to 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. This article appeared in Joint Base Lewis-McChord's weekly newspaper, the Northwest Guardian.
Social Sharing