US Marine Corps Band comes to Willow Grove PA

Marine Corps Corporal Judes Grandoit who served 7 months in Afghanistan.

At 7 pm I drove over to Upper Moreland High School, 5 minutes away from home, to listen to the Marine Corps Band.

I had the good fortune to sit near some young Marines whose job it is to transport the band and its equipment from their headquarters in Washington, DC, to various ceremonies along the eastern seaboard.

If you click on the above link you can see their schedule plus our own Willow Grove location in the football stadium of our high school.

The Drum and Bugle Corps played Pirates in the Caribbean and other tunes. The announcer dedicated the song to the Wounded Warriors. CLICK once or twice to enlarge.
A school bus dropped off a busload of people. By this time, the program was half over. We missed the high school's jazz band.
This is the Silent Drill Team. They will follow the Drummer and Bugle Corps.

Here's one of three buses that drove in from headquarters at 8th and I Streets in DC.

These good-looking Marines were sitting near me, so I moved closer....and closer!
Voila, they were friendly.

The first guy I talked to, with the USMC tattoo, was the youngest of the bunch, having enlisted only 4 months ago. He was the only one who hadn't seen combat.

All the others had been to Iraq. One man had been in Afghanistan.

Meet Corporal Judes Grandoit (say it the French way) from Brooklyn who served in Afghanistan.

Ya wanna know where I came from before Brooklyn? he asked me.

Sure, I answered.

Haiti! he said. His family is doing well, there, despite all the upheavals. "They've adapted," he said.

This man was so unusual. To him, everything is possible, everything attainable. A force as bright as the sun.

We talked for many meaningful minutes. I'm sure I didn't make his day, but he sure made mine and my millions of followers on the blog. Hold your hands up if you're there.

Hey, can anyone read me?

Cpl Grandoit is 31. Before he joined the Marines three years ago he was a private contractor in Brooklyn, fixing homes. He has family in Philadelphia, including a fiancee.

Couldn't she join you here? I asked.

Oh no, he said. She's gotta work.

Judes trained at Parris Island in South Carolina. It was tough, he said.

"My dad did too," I said. "I was born in Camp Lejeune."

His buddies hail from Virginia and South Carolina.

Judes served 7 months in northern Afghanistan. He said he knows for sure that they helped the Afghani people.

The kids, he said, visited the Marines in their barracks, which are called "fobs." They were friendly and trusted the Marines, who, in turn, taught them various skills and helped them to read.

The kids, said Judes, taught me about farming.

The Marines gave the kids toys and candy.

I asked what I and other Americans can do to help these children.

Judes suggested we contact our local USMC and donate educational materials like pens and pencils, not just the usual blankets and clothes.

Spitshine shoes

Judes guessed there were about 800 people in the stadium. We sat in stands that were not crowded, but across the field almost all the seats were taken on this perfect spring night with the temperature hovering around 70 degrees.

Dyou play an instrument, I asked Judes.

I just play steering wheel and pedal, he smiled, referring to his job as bus driver.

His enlistment is up next month and he will re-enlist.

You've got it made, I said, as long as you don't, ya know, get killed. None of his buddies were injured or wounded in Afghanistan, but, then, the corporal demurred, and said he really couldn't talk about everything that happened in Afghanistan.

The Silent Drill platoon marched onstage with their M1 rifles and fixed bayonets.

Judes listened to Gospel Music in Afghanistan. He spoke to his girlfriend twice during his deployment.

I asked him how he spent his spare time in his barracks.

There was no free time, he said. We were always preparing for our next mission.

I asked what time it was, saying I had to drive my boyfriend to the train station. He works at SEPTA, I said.

Judes, having a Philly girlfriend, had ridden the El, which Scott repairs.

His friends looked at their Blackberries and gave the time in military numbers.

Judes translated it.

We shook hands goodbye. Was gonna take the photo myself but Judes asked the youngest Marine.



One last photo of these beautiful buses.

As I was leaving, Action News was pulling in.

Kudos to the Fire Department for excellent traffic control and direction to the parking lot.

When I got home I could hear the Marine band playing The Star-Spangled Banner.

I stood awestruck.

The music comes right through my backyard.

While talking to Judes I mentioned how happy he and the Marines must be that Osama bin Laden had been killed.

He nodded. I told him I read everything I could get my hands on in the Times.

How bout you? I asked. Were you able to read about it?

Yes, ma'am, he said. I read all about it.