I have never been so proud of anything or anybody in my life as I was on November 10, 2016, when I attended a ceremony celebrating my nephew, Rob Purdy, and his retirement from the U.S. Army after a 26-year career as an attack helicopter pilot and trainer.  The ceremony was held at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

[Also, have a look at this article for more about Rob’s career.]

The U.S. Army Aviation Museum

I arrived at the Museum early, as I wanted to spend some time in the Museum itself prior to Rob’s retirement ceremony.  This is a tremendously interesting place, especially for aviation and history buffs.  The photos I took are not really great, but I hope they give you a sense of the facility.

Rob Purdy’s Retirement Ceremony

As the 1:00 pm time for the ceremony approached, Rob’s many friends and fellow service men and women began to gather.  Rob noted that the attendees at this celebration represented those with whom he served at each duty station to which he was deployed during his career.  This next set of photos was taken prior to, during, and following the retirement ceremony.

The Retirement Party

What’s a retirement celebration without a good party to cap it all off? Rob and Amy did this with style and in style, gathering friends and relatives at The Red Barn in Dothan for good food, good drink, and great company! One could seriously feel the love and respect all those who attended had for both Rob and Amy.

[Note that this is a bit of a work-in-progress, as I did not stay for the entire party, nor was I in the best position to capture Rob and Amy’s receiving awards during the formal ceremony.  I hope to collect some of the official photographs taken at the ceremony to add to that gallery.  Also, if anyone reading this also has additional photos to add, please contact Dan via the email link on the right side of this page.  I’d love to include those and any captions you may have for any of the photos.]

It was indeed a pleasure and an honor to meet you all and to participate in this day.
THANK YOU!

I was talking with some at the party about Rob’s “attitude” and its being no surprise that a career in the Army spoke to him. I promised I’d include my favorite photo of Rob and me when I published my photos from his retirement.  Here it is.  Too bad it wasn’t some bad-looking Harley … 

Dan with Rob in ’72 or so.