I don't have the words. But I'm going to try. What the Office of the Lt. Governor gave successfully to the soldiers and families of the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Louisiana National Guard yesterday was truly astounding.
In 2004, when the 256th IBCT was deployed to Iraq the first time, the Lt. Governor hosted a send-off concert for the troops at Fort Hood, Texas. When the brigade was put on alert last year, we asked the Lt. Governor if we could host another concert, and he enthusiastically said yes, had the preliminary conversations with the LANG and set the wheels in motion. When he put me in charge of this project, it was an event for the soldiers, 3500 of them. The decision was made to invite families, and the numbers grew...7,000...8,000...10,000...13,000. We had to make a lot of changes to accommodate the growing numbers. We raised money. We solicited donations. People were as generous as you'd expect them to be for such a cause.
The families started coming at 6 AM. The soldiers started rehearsing at 6 AM. At 10 AM, 7,000 family members crowded the stands for the official casing and farewell ceremony, which included speeches, a pass in review and a perfectly-timed flyover. At 11:30, we started serving food. The Jambalaya Krewe out of Lafayette cooked jambalaya for 13,000 people. They browned sausage in pots that sat in jacuzzi tubs and were pulled by large trailers. It was a phenomenal operation. At 12:30, we started a concert that featured Amanda Shaw, Meriwether, Trombone Shorty and David St. Romain. We also had the Saintsations, the Honeybees and Miss Louisiana. Check out our unit Facebook fan page for all the coverage, including video: www.facebook.com/HHC256BSTB. You don't have to sign up for Facebook to see it.
If you're hosting an event for a planned 13,000 people, you'd expect a massive team of people to pull this off. Our office, which led the event, had a team of five people. We worked on this for almost a year. We did it during some major initiatives the department executes every fall. We did this while our boss successfully ran for Mayor of New Orleans. We did this while preparing for the transition of a new Lt. Governor. We worked with an amazing production company and two PR contractors who donated their time and experience, and you'll see on the FB page, generated impressive coverage. The leaders that the National Guard and Camp Shelby assigned us were capable and accommodating. We requested the moon from them and they pulled it down and handed it to us.
I'm such a mix of emotions this weekend. I am so honored that my office had the faith in me to give me this project to manage. I'm grateful to the team of people that made this a flawless event. I'm elated that we gave 3,500 soldiers the opportunity to have fun with their friends and family and each other before they are physically and emotionally challenged this year. I am sad, because this is my last project with my colleagues and friends in the Office of the Lt. Governor. I feel blessed, because this took a lot of my attention from Corey and the boys during Corey's pass, and they never complained about it. He has been nothing but encouraging and supportive. And I am grieving, because Friday night was my last night to spend with Corey until September. More on that later.
I'll post pictures later in the week, once we get them downloaded from the various cameras. Please go read some of the clips and watch some of the videos. You won't understand the magnitude of Tiger Day until you do.
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