While tens of millions of people around the world watch the ball drop in Times Square on December 31, they will see the glitz and wild revelry that the Big Apple hosts annually.  What they won’t see, however, is what the Soldiers of the 314th Public Affairs Operations Center saw only 24 hours earlier.  They will not see the New York City that loves its military — at least not the way we did yesterday. 

Since our unit is already validated, First Army at Fort Dix, NJ,  allowed us to take a field trip before we leave for Iraq in the next few days, and we chose New York City.  With a little planning, the appropriate paperwork, and much-appreciated support of MAJ Denise Wurzbach, we got approval to travel 75 miles to visit a mix of cultural, military, economic and entertainment sites.

Dressed in Army Combat Uniform, fleece jackets, and gloves, we loaded our vans and headed out at about 10 a.m.  Rather than face the challenge of driving and parking on Manhattan, we opted to park at the tip of Staten Island (New York City’s most southern borough).   If you park in the lots at the Staten Island Ferry landing, you can park for only $7 a day and then ride the ferry across New York Harbor for free.  Yes, free!  If you have ever seen Melanie Griffith in the movie “Working Girl” you will see her on the same ferry.  As an added bonus, the ferry passes near enough to get great pictures of the Statue of Liberty as you draw close to Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan.

SGT Kellena Leech, a 314th PAOC soldier, holds a folded U.S. flag at Ground Zero. (Photo by PFC Brittany Gardner)

Once we disembarked the ferry, we walked north on Broadway Avenue, past Wall Street, and finally arrived at Ground Zero — the former site of the World Trade Center.  Currently, the site is busy with construction vehicles on the street and in the pit that seems to drop hundreds of feet below street level (I want to know how they can keep all the water that surrounds Manhattan from filling the hole).  Above the tourists and construction, several cranes soared hundreds of feet into the sky, delivering the raw materials that will become a new World Trade Center. See more at http://www.wtc.com/.

As soon as we arrived, LTC Perez rallied us all near the site and pulled a U.S. flag from the backpack he carried.  He spoke to a man selling 9/11 commemorative booklets to passing tourists and handed over a camera.  We quickly fell into formation with the construction site behind us and then unfurled the flag.  After a few pictures had been taken and the supportive vendor was thanked, he called us all around and told us of his plan to take this same flag to Baghdad and display it proudly. 

While we stood in formation listening, I did not realize that dozens of tourists and New Yorkers had gathered around us, some with their own cameras.  After we were finished, they began to approach and ask if they could take a picture with us or shake our hands.   Our Soldiers and our flag were the visual representation of what the hole in the ground could not communicate — we were Americans standing together to defeat aggression and rebuild.

After lunch nearby, we headed to the subway for a ride north.  As soon as we entered the station, a woman from the ticket window came out and told us to put our money away.  “You can ride for free, ” she said.  “Soldiers in uniform don’t pay.”  She opened the gate and let us pass, thanking each of us Soldiers for our service.

When we got off the train at 34th and Herald Square, we were only a block from the Empire State Building, currently the tallest building in New York City.  The building has an observation deck on the 86th floor which is always popular with visitors.  December 30 was no exception.  The line to get to the top stretched outside the building and down the block.  It would likely have taken us more than three hours to get there…but not for Soldiers in uniform.

From the top of the Empire State Building (photo by PFC Christine Bernat)

We walked to the front of the line and the doorman to the building ushered us to a separate door.  Like the woman in the subway, he opened the door and thanked us for our service to the nation.  Once inside the building, at each “checkpoint”, another building employee called us forward and pushed us past crowds to get us to the top.  Instead of hours, we were standing on the observation deck, more than 1000 feet up, in minutes (yes, our ears “popped”). 

The day could not have been better for taking pictures, or dealing with acrophobia.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, giving us unfettered views to New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and of course New York.  Buying a ticket like the one we were given would have cost each of us almost $50.  I was beginning to think that maybe the Army should use all the great benefits in New York City in its next ad campaign. 

As we departed the tower, we were afforded the same treatment.  We went to the front of the line for elevators back to the ground level.  Once outside the building, we walked about 10 blocks to our next destination: the USO at the Port Authority Building.  If you have never been at a USO, let me share some of what you are missing.  USOs around the world cater exclusively to military members and their families — at no cost for most services.  This one was no exception.  It included two different rooms with a widescreen television and comfortable leather chairs and sofas; a dining area with free drinks and snacks; and a computer room to check up on emails. 

However, the best part of any USO is the volunteer staff, but this one had a few special touches.   For instance, visitors to this USO are greeted by staff that can help them find discount tickets to events at Broadway theaters (or off-Broadway), Madison Square Garden, and elsewhere in “the city.”  The staff here also includes a singing group called the Liberty Belles, an a cappella group that sings patriotic songs.  On this night, we were treated to some music made popular by the Andrews Sisters (those of you less than 40 years old, please Google).

While the commander and I and a couple other Soldiers rested our feet for a while, the rest of the unit went out into area around the USO in groups to explore during three hours of “free time.”  SFC Poulten, a New York City native with ties to entertainment community, assembled some of his family and friends from Manhattan for dinner and invited unit members to join him.  Another group of about six Soldiers explored nearby Times Square.  And still others went to a very nice Japanese dinner (only to receive free appetizers from other patrons to thank them for their military service).  Each group returned with a different story about how they interacted with locals, including SGT Tull’s group which was approached by some pre-teen entrepreneurs who wanted to act as “security guards” — I guess they figured Soldiers in uniform needed protection. 

By 7 pm, all had gathered back at the USO before the final major event of the day — a Broadway show!  When the staff of “Spamalot” heard about our trip to Manhattan before our deployment, they offered us free tickets to see this Tony Award-winning show.  After nearly four years, the show was scheduled to close on January 11, 2009, so each of the last shows was already sold out.  The addition of American Idol star Clay Aiken to the cast added to the draw, and made the offer of free tickets even more amazing.  Despite all that, Wendy Orshan and Katharine Croke from the Spamalot production team, called us earlier this week and offered us tickets for all of our Soldiers.  Most of the tickets were called Standing Room Only, where you are stand in the back of the theater and rest your arms on a padded divider (this was a lot more roomy than a typical theater seat since I could easily step back and stretch…and not have to upset the people in the adjacent seats).  The theater also gave us three regular seats, which was perfect because we had three Soldiers who had hurt their feet during recent training.  Amazingly, a married couple from New York approached us during the show’s intermission and said they would take the Standing Room Only spaces.  The seats they gave up were front and center — so two of our Soldiers, SPC Richardson and PFC Clifton, watched the second half of the show from there.

If that New York City hospitality was not enough, Wendy and Katharine called us an hour before the

Clay Aiken takes a moment to greet 314th soldiers (photo by PFC Christine Bernat)

show began and told us the cast and crew wanted us to stay after the show finished so we could meet them onstage.   As the curtain came down at the end of the show, I could see the anticipation of our Soldiers.  With only a few people left, we ventured down to the stage.  Within minutes we were talking to Michael Siberry, Merle Dandridge, Clay Aiken and the rest of the cast.   It was a once-in-a lifetime experience for all of us.

I was particularly impressed by their desire to make us feel special that night.  Clay Aiken told us that he had talked to his brother, a U.S. Marine who happened to be in the audience that night, about what to say to a group of Soldiers.  After practicing “hooah” a few times, he decided instead to ask the cast to change one of the lines in the play to have them sing some of “Sweet Home Alabama” to honor our Birmingham, Alabama unit location.  When we told him we were from Birmingham, he joked and said “oh…that’s where Rueben [Studdurd] is from.”

As we left the theater re-energized, we boarded the subway for our trip back to Battery Park, Staten Island, and then the drive home.  During that drive, I sat in the front seat of one of the vans, and could hear many of the Soldiers talking about how great New York City and its residents are.  I would have to agree.  They gave this Army Reserve unit a more personal and heartfelt Big Apple send off to 2008 than the cold, crowded frenzy taking place 24 hours later.

THANK YOU NEW YORK CITY!