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Comment by CindyN on May 30, 2015 at 11:41am

When you say "silver dollar", do you mean older versions of the dollar coin or any of the current presidents line of dollar coins? I am just curious what I need to be looking for. I like the idea of the coin minted the year the BIL entered the service. My DS won't be saluting anyone in our family (at least that is the current plan) so I don't currently have any ideas along that line to direct my search. 

Comment by ITgal on May 30, 2015 at 10:37am

Okie Cowgirl - my Coast Guard brother in law was scheduled to give my son his first salute, when 3 days prior all leave was cancelled due to the 2013 government shutdown.  The BIL just needed to get leave, my son didn't need any type of approval, but did advise the OCS command as a regular part of their graduation prep.  My son got him a silver dollar minted in the year BIL entered the service.  He gave it to him at Thanksgiving and BIL saluted him then.

Comment by Okie Cowgirl on May 30, 2015 at 9:31am

M's mom- Thank you so much.  I wanted to keep it a secret, but I realized that he has to give a guest list to several different areas, so I went ahead and told him.  Of course, there are no guarantees, so we will see what happens, but he would be so excited. 

Comment by M's mom on May 30, 2015 at 1:27am

Okie Cowgirl: After the graduation/commissioning ceremony at OCS, everyone heads from the auditorium outside to the seawall by the bay (weather permitting) for First Salutes. The class Drill Instructor and class Petty Officer stand there at attention and give first salutes to each new Ensign as they approach in a line. They take official pictures of this, and you can take your own too.  I think some have posted pictures of a third person in uniform saluting also, (maybe a sibling?)  You could also do a First Salute with just your daughter and son in a family group on your way to the "official" First Salutes.   Tradition dictates that the new Ensign must give a silver dollar to the first sailor who salutes them.  (You might remember this scene with the DI at the end of the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman.")    My son used two old silver dollars that belonged to his grandfather for his DI and PO, but some used various other coins.   You won't be the only blubbering mess!   I always advise Moms to take tissues, and some Dads will need them too!  

Comment by M's mom on May 30, 2015 at 12:47am

GalleyMom:  Nothing at all wrong with you not being worried, since you are not used to hearing much from your son anyway.  My son was the same way at college, but for some parents who are used to texting their kid 3-4 x per day, or maybe they lived at home in college, the lack of communication can be quite traumatic.  This is the Navy's way of weaning the candidates and their families off of constant communication with each other.  When they are deployed on a ship or especially a sub, you don't hear much from them and are not even sure where they ARE much of the time!  

My son can't even tell us about what he does in his job, because he is in Intelligence.  Very much "don't ask; don't tell" in Intel.  My son gives us the old "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you" line, and then laughs.  We hope he's teasing us, but we don't ask!    My son never has been the  "chatty" type anyway, so he's perfect for Intel.  We always had to drag info out of him when he was in college, and even then we'd only get one-word answers like:  "How are things going?" "Fine."  "Did you have any tests this week?"  "Two."  "Anything exciting happen lately?"  "No."     You can see that my son has never been guilty of giving out "too much information," so it wasn't too hard not hearing much from him at OCS!

Comment by Okie Cowgirl on May 30, 2015 at 12:20am

For all of you experienced moms out there, my daughter, who is enlisted, would like to be our OC son's first salute.  Does she need to do anything to get it approved, other than be there?  She is asking for leave and flying in from Italy for his graduation.  I am pretty sure I will be a blubbering mess for this event. 

Comment by Okie Cowgirl on May 30, 2015 at 12:11am

To GalleyMom and Tiggermanic- I am so sorry.  I haven't been paying attention to N4M, and I missed any questions that were directed to me.  At least GalleyMom and I have connected on facebook- so sorry. 

Comment by Tiggermanic on May 29, 2015 at 4:07pm

Nothing wrong with your mom-o-meter.  I was the same when he was in college but then he came home for a few years so I got used to him being here and talking to him all the time.  These last 10 weeks have gone so fast it amazing.  Now we are just waiting on the medical to come thru before going to flight school!!! Wish us luck!

Comment by Tiggermanic on May 29, 2015 at 1:02pm

As a mom of class 12-15 (soon to graduate!!) I checked the FB page weekly.  I noticed they usually updated pics on tuesdays but not every week. Like she said its hard to tell them apart with bald heads but hopefully you can pick yours out!  Hang in there I know it seems like 3 weeks is a long time to wait to hear from them but it flys by!

Comment by CindyN on May 29, 2015 at 12:56pm

GalleyMom: Thanks! The OTC Facebook page will start an album for the 15-15 class sometime next week. With those haircuts, it will be hard to find your LO.  Luckily (or not) my DS has glasses, so maybe that will narrow the prospective faces! 

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