One day last week, I was taking pictures of four baby Killdeer birds and their parents trying to keep them safe.
A couple of days later, my son, Kyle, was offered two VIP tickets t o come take pictures of the Blue Angels at the Brunswick Airport show.
He said they wanted me to also come with him if I could.
This was from one extreme to another and I almost turned it down being I had never done it before.
Kyle went Friday while they were warming up. I decided I would go over Friday evening and spend the night with Kyle so we could get there early Saturday morning.
From baby birds about two inches tall walking around to the Blue Angels moving at over 500 mph is for sure a difference!
I was able to get some pretty good pictures, but I think Kyle got more good ones than I did. If I do this very much, I will need more practice for sure.
Saturday morning, a recruiter came to where I was sitting and asked me if I was okay with them doing a presentation between me and the Blue Angels that wouldn’t take 30 minutes. I told the recruiter I didn’t have a problem with it. At the time nothing was going on anyway.
In the next few minutes about 25-30 young men and women started gathering in front of me. The man, who was with the Air Force, started getting them in line from front to back and side to side.
Then a Marine took over and gave them what I found out was the “Oath of Enlistment” to quote after him.
By now several people, who I assumed were family members, had gathered all around me with many taking photos with many tears being shed.
I got up and moved out of the way and let the families have their private times with each other. This was an emotional time for all involved and even for me and I didn’t have anyone in this group.
The last words of the oath was “SO HELP ME GOD” and now they will be serving our country.
• Wayne Morgan is freelance wildlife photographer and author.
