At The Mariners’ Museum and Park, we value our close relationship with the local military community. The strong bonds we’ve built are reflected through daily admissions, our MilKids event in April, the representation of their stories in our galleries, and our support as a community resource for many different military ceremonies and private events.
The Museum hosts various military ceremonies, including reenlistments, promotions, and changes of command; and while every military ceremony is full of fun, we tend to see the most creative experiences come from our retirement ceremonies. It may seem odd to a person not involved in the military that one of the more “traditional” military events can vary so much from retiree to retiree. However, you can tell a lot about someone from how they customize moments from their retirement to reflect themselves and their experiences while serving!
As one of the rare Hampton Roads natives who has never been in a military family or experienced a ceremony like this, I recently had the honor to attend one of the retirement ceremonies hosted here in our beautiful Anna Huntington Room for ETNCS(SS) Keith Bauer. Keith is incredibly welcoming and giving, which I learned about him very quickly when he invited me to sit in during his ceremony.
Almost every seat in the room was taken up by guests eager to share such an amazing moment with their friend Keith. Throughout the ceremony, I increasingly understood what made Keith so special. He found moments between the ceremony’s serious nature to poke fun at his colleagues by gifting them a step stool and a megaphone to help them be taller and louder. Keith also gifted his family beautiful bouquets, toys for his two children, and his sister a “world’s okayest sister” t-shirt.
Keith was an excellent public speaker because he was so genuine in his words. As much as he was a jokester, he also seriously reflected in a room full of loved ones on how much they were there for him during his years of service. I could never imagine the sacrifice Keith, his wife, and his kids had to make. To say I was moved is an understatement. When the last bell chime rang out, and they permitted Keith to return to shore, telling him his watch was over and that his crewmates would take it from there, I was close to tears because the love and appreciation in the room were so palpable.
Afterward, Keith took the time, in the middle of all his friends and family lining up to be able to share this moment together, to come to me, thank me for sitting in, and ask me what I thought. I was so grateful to Keith for allowing me to participate in such a big day and learn so much about an event we host so often here at the Museum. I am even more grateful he has allowed me to retell his story for our community to read about! I hope to share even more stories like this with all the events we host here at the Museum and Park! Keep an eye out for those blogs soon, and remember to thank a service member and their family today!
