My Beloved Heidi, our son Ben, and our grandson Thomas just returned from a whirlwind (6,000 miles in three days) trip to Maryland to experience our son Brian’s pinning ceremony and his taking the oath of office as a Major in the USAF.
Every family member present was asked to pin one of the gold oak leafs onto his uniform.The third photo down shows his wife Kristi, their four-year-old twin sons Zachary and Alexander, and his Mother-In-Law Carol, doing their part during the pinning ceremony. My Beloved and I replaced his shirt epaulettes that had his Captain’s “Railroad Tracks” with ones that had a gold oak leaf.
The Lt. Colonel presiding read off a long list of Brian’s major (no pun intended) positions held, some of which we had never heard about for security reasons. As just one example, we had no idea he led a group of 67 people. As you can probably tell, we’re all very proud of Brian.
The fourth photo is of an engraved plaque that one of his subordinates from an earlier assignment had made to honor Brian’s promotion to Major. He was touched by the thoughtful gift.
With Love,
Russ
Russ Towne's A Grateful Man 
how amazing – congrats to all of you! how proud you must be –
We are indeed, Beth. Thank you.
Wow! You and your beloved must be so proud! ♡
Diana xo
We couldn’t be more proud, Diana. Thank you.
Wow, what an honor! Well done to you all!
Thank you, Mrs. P. I’m delighted he’s being honored for his contributions to protect our freedom.
How wonderful, you are surely a proud family!
Thank you for your kind message, Ute!
Congratulations to your son!!! What an incredible dedication to his country. Thank him, and all of you, for your service.
Thank you, Colleen. I’m proud of the major (again, no pun intended) sacrifices he and his wife freely make to help to keep us free.
Thank you for sharing such good news. You must be bursting with pride.
I’ve been popping buttons off my shirts for weeks. Thank you, “J.” ;-D!
Please thank you son, for his service! God Bless him and keep him safe at all times.
May your kind wishes for him hold true for you and everyone, Annette.
You must be so proud
I am and we are. Thank you, Joanne.