FORT KNOX, Ky. – The sun shining down, a light breeze blowing through, sounds of laughter and rejoicing filled the air.
Tears streamed as Cadets of the 6th Regiment, Advanced Camp, were reunited with their families at long last.
From Near and Far
Cadets of the 6th Regiment, Advanced Camp, greet their families on their Family Day, one day before they graduate and head home. Fort Knox, Kentucky, July 23. | Photo by Megan Reynolds, CST Public Affairs Office
Family Day is a moment of love and appreciation for what you have; as cliché as that may sound, there is simply no other way to put it. To see the face of your loved ones right in front of you rather than on a screen, is a time where love can do nothing but thrive.
From near and far, parents and siblings, friends and significant others, come to watch as their Cadets graduate.
“I’m pretty excited, I’m stoked,” Cadet Bryan Grulan, a native of Powder Springs, Georgia said just before the doors opened that separated the Cadets and their families.
Grulan, who attends the University of North Georgia, would be reunited with his mother and grandmother as soon as that door opened.
“They’ve been writing to me, so I’m pretty excited,” Grulan added. “I told them to surprise me, something definitely with food.”
Cadets of the 6th Regiment, Advanced Camp, greet their families on their Family Day, one day before they graduate and head home. Fort Knox, Kentucky, July 23. | Photo by Megan Reynolds, CST Public Affairs Office
Most of the Cadets had similar sentiments regarding food. Family is well and good, but freedom from the DFAC and MREs is a very close second.
Cadets Calista Bond and Daniel Mulraney, both students at Valley Forge Military College, would be spending their Family Day together with Mulraney’s family.
“My parents are coming down,” Mulraney, an Ocean City, New Jersey native, said. “Planning on getting some good food.”
While Bond and Mulraney attend the same school and have been in the same regiment, they’ve been in separate companies and hope to use this time to catch up.
“It’s going to be nice to be able to share some stories,” Bond, living in Upstate New York, said.
Good Memories
While absolutely ecstatic to be reunited with their families, Cadets were still reflective on the happy memories made at camp.
Cadets of the 6th Regiment, Advanced Camp, greet their families on their Family Day, one day before they graduate and head home. Fort Knox, Kentucky, July 23. | Photo by Megan Reynolds, CST Public Affairs Office
“Being out, bonding with your brothers and sisters out in the field, it’s been a great time,” Mulraney said, touching on the family he was able to find in his platoon.
Family Day was truly a day of appreciation, both for family from home and family found at camp. Many Cadets whose families were unable to make it were invited to spend the day with their fellow Cadets’ families.
It was a day of unity, no matter how you look at it.
