CAPE MAY – A crowd of about 300 attended the Coast Guard Cape May Training Center’s first Sunset Parade of the year July 2. One planned for the Memorial Day Weekend was cancelled due to rain.
The battalion of about 500 recruits marched onto the parade ground as the sun gradually sank in the west.
Commanding Officer Capt. Owen Gibbons walked in front of the bleachers and welcomed the visitors. He encouraged them to raise a cheer for the young men and women who were in various weeks of training.
In the time-honored sea-faring tradition, an inspection of the recruit companies was held and a demonstration by the Silent Drill Team afforded an opportunity to awe the spectators as the drill master stood in the center of a circle as recruits tossed rifles in the air to those opposite them.
At the precise setting of the sun, attention was drawn to a large American flag on the ocean side of the parade ground as a cannon was fired. Then, as the smoke drifted through the ranks, the recruit band played the “Star Spangled Banner” as a detail slowly lowered the flag.
The event was nearly over, the recruits passed in review. Each company commander’s salute was smartly returned by Gibbons as the western sky showed a golden clouded afterglow and the day ended.
The statue of Signalman First Class Douglas Munro, the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient, flags in each hand, seemed to watch as the visitors departed.
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