Fishburne Military School Gathers for Blessing of the Colors

photos by Cadet Timothy Betoni (Falls Church, VA), Battalion S-5
FULL VIDEO        LTC TOLMAN SPEECH

Waynesboro, VA — The Fishburne Military School Corps of Cadets, faculty, staff, and guests gathered yesterday in Lawton Chapel for the annual Blessing of the Colors ceremony. Reverend Tim Bolhman,of Bethany Lutheran Church in Waynesboro, officiated and Lieutenant Colonel Tom Tolman, Professor of Military Science and Head of the Deparment of Military Science at James Madison University, delivered the address to the Corps.

Cadet 2LT Connor Green (Virginia Beach, VA) acted as master of ceremonies and welcomed those in attendance noting “this ceremony is particularly significant since it marks the coming together of a group of fine young men as a unified force for good underneath their own personal banners.”

FMS Band Director, MAJ Roger Wells, led the assembly in singing the National Anthem and God Bless America before Rev. Bolhman delivered an invocation.

Fishburne Military School Superintendent, CAPTAIN Mark Black, USN(Ret), called upon the group to ask for God’s “blessing upon this school, this faculty, this staff, this Corps and each cadet contained within it.” Black went on to introduce the guest speaker, LTC Tolman, as a man “each of us should work to emulate.”

Tolman, who began his military career by enlisting as a combat engineer. He went on to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point and, after serving through numerous deployments to Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq, eventually returned to serve as the Head of the Department of Military Sciences at James Madison University.

Tolman opened his remarks by recalling his first interaction with Fishburne Cadets. He noted that, early in his time at JMU, he was returning to the campus after a day of cadet training and was struck by the precision and professionalism of the color guard he saw posting the colors at an ongoing event. Tolman related that “I turned to my Senior Army Instructor to inform him how impressed I was with our color guard and he said ‘Sir, that’s not your color guard. That’s Fishburne.'”

LTC Tolman shared with the cadets his ten rules for good leadership and concluded his remarks by commending the FMS Corps of Cadets for “choosing a path more difficult from those your peers have taken … I know that it will pay off for you.”

Battalion Commander, c/MAJ Phillip Griffin (Charlottesville, VA) offered the Senior Prayer, c/1SG Shunyuan Hu (Jilin, China) delivered the Junior Prayer, c/SGT Bryson Overton (Sanford, NC) gave the underclassman prayer and Cadet Green read the FMS Cadet Prayer.

Reverend Bolhman took the podium once again and offered a special prayer for those represented by each of the flags on stage (the American, Virginia, FMS, JROTC , and individual company banners). Bolhman concluded his blessings by noting “As a member of this community, I thank you, Father, for the blessing of Fishburne Military School and for the impact it has upon us”.

The assembly concluded with MAJ Wells leading the group in singing Hail to Fishburne and Eternal Father Strong to Save. Following a brief benediction, the colors were retired and the ceremony was brought to an end.

Fishburne Military School is the oldest and smallest of all military schools for boys in Virginia. Its college-prep curriculum is built on the structure of an Army JROTC program. FMS has been designated as a JROTC Honor Unit with Distinction and may nominate qualified candidates to the United States Service Academies. Fishburne hosts one of only four Summer JROTC programs in the nation that is accredited by US Army Cadet Command.