Springfield High School
Army JROTC ~ Holland,
Ohio
The First Time I heard about
JROTC...
My daughter Jamie had just started high
school. A few days later... she informed me of her plan to get excused
from gym class. All she had to do... was take a class called JROTC.
Within a few weeks, she began talking about the drill teams. Soon...
it was the topic of every conversation. And... if she could make
the team... there was a possibility she could go on a scheduled trip to
Ireland! My daughter is not the most coordinated individual.
In fact... during the previous year... she'd broken the same arm twice.
Her mom and stepfather bought her an old Springfield decommissioned rifle
to practice with. The thing weighed almost 12 pounds and it needed
continuous repair to stay in one piece. Soon... she and the weapon
were inseparable. She spun it continuously... inside and outside
the house. I can't count how many marks she left on the tiled ceiling
of the family room. With daily practice... at home and before school...
she made the drill team.
The
day I met MAJ. John Gardiner...
My first Boosters Meeting was mainly about
the Ireland trip. I was worried about the cost and if I could afford
it. In fact... I'd already decided to barrow money from the credit
union to make the trip possible for Jamie. The meeting was held in
a JROTC classroom. I watched a small-framed man named John Gardiner
walk from his office to address the thirty or so people present.
By the time I heard the third word flow from his mouth... I knew exactly
why he wanted to go to Ireland. He had the brogue of a Leprechaun!
He went over the trip itinerary. Flying to London on British Air...
then on to Dublin via Air Lingus. Staying at Jurys five star hotel.
Marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Each day had line after
line of scheduled daily activities. I noticed a few days added up
to more then 24 hours! I also noted there wasn't much time designated
for sleeping. Next came the money issue. How much was it going
to cost? He said the military would provide some money... the Boosters
would write a big check... and he had a few dollars stashed away in a special
account. What I remember most was the last sentence... "In a worst
case scenario... it will cost each cadet $200 or $300 dollars!" I
could hardly believe my ears! Jamie went to Ireland that year and
had the time of her life. Where else could a 16 year old get that
kind of experience?!
My First Drill Meet...
The first time I saw Jamie drill was at
Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. It was a 6-hour drive each
way on ice and snow covered roads. It was also one of the coldest
winter days I can remember. The building was similar to a huge aircraft
hanger with an asphalt floor. Areas were roped off to indicate where
the drill performances would soon take place. Parents and cadets
from the participating schools gathered everywhere. The judges walked
around inside the areas with clipboards in hand. They were real military
DI's... very BIG and very intimidating. Out from a door near the
rear of the building came the Springfield female team. Blue skirts
with a yellow stripe down each side, tan heeled boots, a white blouse with
nametags, ribbons and shoulder ropes, a blue hat with a feather on the
side. They marched in single file... a rifle held upright in front
of them. Slap... slap... slap was the only sound heard from their
feet as they marched. They had their "game faces" on and every eye
in the building was watching. Up to the drill area they marched.
A few words from the Major and they were ready to go. The commander
shouted, "Inspection"... followed by a tip of the head, the check of the
weapon and the locking of the bolts. "Grenadiers! Are you ready?"
"Yes Ma'am!" Tap, tap... slap, slap... spin, spin. Off they
marched onto the drill floor... spinning the weapons and marching in all
kinds of formations... tossing the rifles overhead and catching them again.
It was over in a matter of minutes. As they left the drill floor...
SGM. Myers shouted, "All right ladies!" He could be heard in the
next state! The team lined up again and left in the same single line
formation as they'd arrived... still with their "game faces" on.
My mouth hung wide open. I had just met the Springfield Grenadiers.
Before I could absorb what happened... out came the male team! In
the same fashion... they marched single file to the drill floor.
Black shiny shoes, sharply creased blue trousers with a yellow stripe down
each side, white shirt with nametags, ribbons and shoulder ropes, a blue
beret on their head. They too... had their "game faces" on.
Once again... a few words of encouragement from the Major. The commander
shouted a few commands... their heads snapped down to check the bolts on
the rifles. Tap, tap... slap, slap... spin, spin. Out on the
drill floor they went. It was pretty much the same routine except
the weapons went a little higher and sometimes they did what I later learned
were doubles and triples. Near the end of the routine... the team
lined up to do the ripple. The center cadets stepped out... with
a kick of the foot, a rifle was held high by the cadet at one end of the
formation. With a quick snap of the wrist... the weapon flew over
his head and a cadet at the other end of the formation reached up and grabbed
the spinning weapon from the air without batting an eye. The crowd
went wild! This I soon learned was the famous Emerald Guard 9 man
throw. At the conclusion of the competition was an Awards Ceremony.
All the teams lined up in groups as the winners were announced. Springfield
finished first or second in every event. Sometimes the girls were
first... sometimes the guys. Last... they gave an overall trophy.
The Springfield Commander collected that as well... I think someone said
for the sixth straight year. Last was a team picture... smiling cadets
gathered behind a long row of trophies in a bath of flashes from the cameras.
SGM. Myers was at one end with a somewhat nonchalant expression on his
face... MAJ. Gardiner on the other end with half a grin and a twinkle in
his eye. This was the Springfield High School Drill Team, Blue Devil
Battalion.
And So it Went...
I never missed a drill meet in 7 years.
Places like Bowling Green, Toledo and Purdue Universities, Colonel
White HS in Dayton, Concordia in Ft. Wayne, Romeoville in Illinois and
Portage HS in Indiana. The results were much the same each time.
I won't venture a guess how many trophies the teams collected. But...
I can tell you the walls of the JROTC classrooms and the large glass cases
in the school hallways are filled with them.
The Nationals...
JROTC Nationals is an annual event usually
held during the first days of May. The best drill teams from almost
every state in the nation travel to Daytona Beach, FL. and compete for
the prestigious National Title. The first year I attended was a real
"eye opener". I was ready for the usual winning of the trophies but
soon realized all the teams participating at Nationals are to be reckoned
with. These teams are the best of the best and put on performances
that boggle the mind. Springfield took home a few trophies... but
not in the "walk away" fashion I was accustomed too. If you finish
in the top five at Nationals... you really have something to brag about!!
I've attended a total of 12 National events... Jamie and Michael competed
in 6 of them.
The Passing of the Torch...
When Jamie graduated from high school...
my son Michael inherited her old practice weapon. I watched
him for hours from my dining room window practicing in the backyard well
after the sun had vanished from the sky. He was perfecting moves
he'd seen others perform... and inventing a few of his own. After
a mistake... he'd start the whole routine over from the beginning.
Mike went on to become both an exhibition and IDR commander and throw the
weapon during the 9 man. He performed in a duet and solo as well.
Jamie commanded an IDR team... and never dropped a weapon during competition!
I'm extremely proud of both Jamie and Michael... as I am of all the Springfield
cadets.
The
Boosters...
I ended up attending many Booster Club meetings
over the years. The main objective is to raise money for the
teams. I believe the bus for Nationals alone costs somewhere around
$8,000. I took my turn asking businesses for items to be sold at
the Silent Auction held each year. I've attended the BCI Unit Inspections.
We cooked thousands of pancakes for Breakfast with Santa... made salads,
cut a zillion cakes and brownie deserts... and cooked pot after pot of
spaghetti. I met many new booster friends over the years... some
I know by name... others by face only. I put together newsletters
and worked on Internet web pages. My ex-wife was the booster president
for two years and my current wife was treasurer for three. I helped
out at bake sales and craft shows. I even worked putting scores together
at the annual Springfield Drill Meet... a meet where Springfield teams
do not compete. Even though I moved to Florida a few years ago...
I still maintain contact with many of my Booster friends.
|
The End of an Era…
Sadly on 6 April 1999... SGM. Thomas J.
Myers suddenly passed away. Then on 14 May 2003… MAJ. John J. Gardiner
died from cancer. I remember the last time I saw both of them.
For SGM. Myers... it was just a few days before he died. It was at
the BCI Inspection. He was in great spirits and talking about retirement...
and doing a little fishing. For MAJ. Gardiner... he was standing
near the front of a Lakefront bus... checking his watch every few minutes.
Mentally taking note who was... and who wasn't... on the bus. If
SGM. Myers was the soul of the Springfield teams… then MAJ. John Gardiner
was the heart. The drill program at Springfield will never be the
same. At SGM. Myers memorial service… it was said that perhaps he
would spend his time in heaven doing a little fishing... and maybe getting
the new boat he was always talking about. I, for one, don't think
it's that way at all! I would bet he and MAJ. Gardiner are looking
over a new class of cadets right now. Tweaking the routines… a sharper
"right face"... adding a spin here and a throw there. I wonder… is
there a Nationals in heaven? |
Epilogue...
A few months after MAJ. Gardiner's passing...
Mary and I were in Toledo and stopped by to visit Maria. Mostly...
we just sat at the kitchen table and cried, but one thing she said... stuck
in my mind. She said, "You all remember him as the Major... I remember
him as John". Yes... it was easy for me to remember him as the Major...
and I tried to remember times when he was John. Like when he and
Maria hosted their annual summer cookout and he labored at the grill cooking
meat to perfection. Then at the Christmas parties... family pictures
on the mantel... making his famous Irish Coffee. Maria is right!
We should remember him as John too.
I was in Ireland the summer of 2004... and
while there I thought about John Gardiner a lot. One of the last
things I did before I left... was to scoop up a bit of good 'ol Irish soil
and put it in a small bag. A few weeks later I found myself standing
at John's grave with Mary and Maria. We all sprinkled a little soil
over his resting place. Now... a little bit of Ireland rests with
him...
This page is maintained by Ralph Stallsworth
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Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida!
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Last Update
January 23, 2009
