YOUNG MARINES COLOR GUARD FOR THE SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
Sometimes the only thing you can hear being a color guard is the music and sometimes it is the beating of your own heart. But on Sunday December 20th, 2009 that was not the case. On this day the Temecula Valley color guard were honored to present the colors at the San Diego Chargers vs. Cincinnati Bengals game. There over 64,000 people in the stadium on that Sunday afternoon and the only thing the color guard could hear was the roar of the enormous crowd. But before we go on lets go back a few days……
On the 5th of December Young Marine 1stSgt Guiles emailed the San Diego Chargers and asked if our unit could possibly present the colors for them in the future. Three days later, Mr. Brain Ransom emailed YM/1stSgt Guiles and said “Can your Color Guard perform on the 20th of December?” The answer was yes, of course, and a few days later we received our tickets and parking passes in the mail. Our parking pass was for a lot right beside the stadium’s east end zone gate 
, and the seats were field level beside the end zone 
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The Big Day!!!!! On December 20th, The CO, Sgt Sparks and Sgt Curtis took the units color guard comprised of Young Marines 1stSgt Guiles, GySgt Currier, Sgt Blake, Sgt Aguilar and Cpl Munoz to Qualcomm Stadium 
. The unit arrived a little early and prepared their uniforms in the parking lot 
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. As the unit gathered their gear and headed towards tunnel M1, the color guard was met by Mr. Mat Turner. Mr. Turner was our coordinator for the event. Mr. Turner walked us through security and down the tunnel 
. Mr. Turner gave us the dos and don’ts associated with the event protocol. It was a short walk in a long tunnel and out onto the field 
. Now I have been on plenty of fields before but there was just something about being on the field of Qualcomm Stadium as you looked up there was nothing but seats as far as you could see. And the CO knew almost every seat would be filled but he never told that to the color guard.
Practice makes perfect!!! The Color Guard marched out and practiced 7 times each time was altered in case of obstructions so Young Marine 1stSgt Guiles had at least three different courses of action to take in case the color guards exit was obstructed 
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. This was Young Marine 1stSgt Guiles’ ideal. The CO watched from a distance and took pictures of the color guard as they practiced. Only Sgt Sparks and Sgt. Curtis staid with the color guard and added any advice that color guard would ask for. The CO wanted to ensure that only one person instructed the color guard to ensure that they were not confused by to much information. Sgt Sparks said he did not do much Young Marine, 1stSgt Guiles took care of everything he and Sgt. Curits were there for their support. Mr. Turner’s advice to Young Marine 1stSgt Guiles was to march the Young Marines down the sidelines on the Bengals 
side to the 50 yard line 
. So the Young Marines could get in their formation and standby for their signal to march out the colors. The last thing that was said before the practice was over was by the CO he said “Young Marines you have done great just by getting here do your best don’t worry if you are out of step, if you are oh well. Concentrate and relax it will come to you naturally but do not worry.” The Young Marines smiled and said yes sir.
Chow!!! Well the Young Marines had about an hour and a half to kill so the stadium provided them free chow and a bench to sit on outside 
. When chow was done the CO instructed everyone to go to the cars and relax take a nap listen to music, and that is what everyone did. The CO was more nervous than the Young Marines but held it in.
Ladies and Gentlemen!!!! The time was 1220 and the CO said with a smile “Let’s gear up young Marines it’s game time.” The CO, Adult leaders, and Young Marines all walked over to the security gate, the security guards said “Hi guys. Welcome back. Are you ready?” Yes ma'am was the answer from the Young Marines. Mr. Turner met us at the gate and escorted us back down into the tunnel there were lots of thumbs up from the police officers and security guards. When the Young Marines were at the bottom of the tunnel and waiting to enter the field you could hear the crowd luckily the banner was down so the Young Marines could not see them. The Young Marines were standing with another youth group that was quite noisy 
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. They were going out onto the filed as a reward to kick footballs. When the CO gave the word to ready the colors the rifles were pulled out the flags were put together and Young Marine 1stSgt guiles drew his sword
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. Funny thing the noise from the kids next to the Young Marines was really quite after that. The youth group ran out and did their thing. The Adult staff looked out and the stadium was filling up fast they kept their mouths shut about that 
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. The Adult Leaders checked the Young Marines uniforms and flags one last time. Mr. Turner said we had 15 minutes to go. The CO, Sgt Sparks, and Sgt Curtis were making jokes and making the Young Marines laugh (I think it really put them at ease). Mr. Turner popped his head in and the event staff lifted the banner. Mr. Turner said you’re on Young Marines!!!! The CO and Sgt Curtis went to the left to the sidelines by the chargers bench to get pictures. Sgt Sparks trailed the Young Marines to their starting point. The color guard took their position with Young Marine 1stSgt Guiles to their left 
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. On cue from Mr. Turner the Young Marines marched down the sidelines amidst the roar of the crowd and players running on the field the Young Marines stayed in step 
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. Mr. Turner was in front to move football players out of the way, but he did not have to. Players pushed other players out of the way. Some of them clapped, others put their hands over their hearts as the color passed by. Just then over the loud speaker the announcer announced Ladies and Gentlemen!!! Today’s color guard will be provided by the Temecula Valley Young Marines. The crowd went crazy and was ten times louder than before. Finally the Young Marines reached their position at the 50 yard line 
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March on the Colors!!! The Young Marines were formed up and staid at attention for about five minutes before they were given the cue to march on the colors 
. During that time the Bengals came out onto the field 
, then the Charger Girls 
, and finally the San Diego Chargers 
. As the Chargers made their way to the benches, LaDainian Tomlinson broke ranks and shook the CO and Sgt Curtis hands and said “Thank you for being here.” As the Chargers took their positions the cue came and the Young Marines marched the colors out to the middle of the football field 
, . Young Marine 1stSgt Guiles did an about face and waited for the national anthem 
. Before the National Anthem started there was a moment of silence for a Bengals player (Chris Henry) that had died earlier that week. When the moment of silence was finished, the singer for the National Anthem was announced. Young Marine 1stSgt Guiles saluted and Young Marine GySgt Currier dipped the Young Marines flag 
. The event was awe inspiring the roar of the crowd was loud the only thing the CO could hear was his heartbeat. When the National Anthem was over it was time to hurry off the field but as the CO said that does not mean as Young Marines you cannot do that without style. So with that in mind the color guard did a left turn 1stSgt Guiles walked out in front of the color guard as they followed him off at a fast pace, and again, amazingly in step 
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. The color guard stopped at the end zone sidelines regrouped in a single file behind the 1stSgt and into the tunnel they went 
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. When the experience was over, you could tell how excited the color guard was to have participated in this event. When the Young Marines were asked if they saw how full the stadium was, they comment “No, we just kept our eyes forward the whole time.” The Young Marines and Adult Leaders went back to their vehicles and stowed their gear and then went into the stadium to enjoy some the game 
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I can say that it was an experience of a lifetime that is for sure I could not believe how much fun it was to of had the honor of being with the Young Marines as they presented the colors during a NFL game.
The Unit Adjutant Mrs. Guiles posted the videos of the Color Guard Ceremony on YouTube you can see the videos by clicikng on the links below:
#1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI9inJvACQs (The Young Marines march out to their staging point on the 50 Yard Line).
#2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3hbLa96beY (Amidst the confusion the Young Marines keep their concentration an bearing and march out to their position to present the colors).
#3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z39Yq7Xm-xI (The Young Marines march off the field)
Ooh-Rah Young Marines!!! You were awesome out their on the field and you should be proud of what you have done.
