Title: Reunion
Author: red rooster dawn
Pairing: Harm/Mac
Disclaimer: JAG is property of Belisarius productions, no copyright infringement intended.
Summary: With trepidation Mac returns home for her high school reunion.
part eleven
27 June
SecNav's office
The Admiral managed to get the SecNav, CNO, and few other high ranking military personnel together. He wanted to show them the film and have them award a special Marine Commendation Medal to Mac.
"I don't understand AJ, why do you want us to view this film? What does a film about Colonel MacKenzie's high school reunion have to do with the Navy. I know she has been instrumental in the high standards that you have set and attained at Jag,
but what she did before she became a Marine is of no importance to us AJ. We're only concerned with the here and now. So if there isn't anything else AJ I would like to move this meeting onto the next thing on my agenda." moaned Nelson.
"Sir, if you view the film you will understand why and you will understand why I want her to receive this prestigious award. I understand your hesitance, I had them myself, but it is a film worth watching.
We all want to get the best people that we can into the Navy and Marines. As some of you are well aware of what a person is like during their formative years can be a prognosticator of what kind of officer they will be while they are in the service.
The film has been edited down to an hour from the three hour film I saw. It leaves out all the hoopla and deals with only her accomplishments and the results of her contribution." argued the Admiral.
"Alright AJ, we'll watch it. It must be important if you're willing to fight this hard for it. You don't usually ask for too much."
There was a viewing of the MacKenzie Wall. They saw her accomplishments as high schooler and then as a Marine. There was another section covering what Sarah meant to the different people who knew her.
Most of them dealt with inspiring them to help other people who were troubled or simply needed help in life. There was another grouping that told of overcoming personal problems, that it was possible if you worked together as a team.
There was no problem that couldn't be overcome if you work hard enough. One shouldn't accept limitations on oneself that were put there by others. Only you knew what your limitations were.
The people gathered there were as impress by Sarah's accomplishments as the Admiral was. They heard that her mother left her when she was only fifteen. She was left with an abusive alcoholic father.
That she was able to attain a 3.95 grade point average was astonishing. She was the class Valedictorian. If that wasn't impressive enough she was an outstanding athlete in three sports.
She was a nine time all star, six time league MVP. She led her teams to six undefeated seasons and seven state championships. Her school built upon those championships for years to come.
She founded the Big Sister program along with other honor roll students in her community. It inspired many more young women in the community to be a part of the program for many years to come.
The film began with one of her coaches named Sam Bradford.
""My name is Coach Sam Bradford. I don't come to many of these reunions anymore, but when I heard that Sarah MacKenzie was coming this year I had to attend. She made quite an impact on the athletic program here at Indian Ridge.
She was perhaps the greatest athlete to ever attend Indian Ridge, male or female. She played Volleyball, Basketball, and Softball. She inspired many average teams to not only conference champions, but state champions.
In 1995 we decided to establish a Athletic Hall of Fame. There were many athletes to select from and only five were to be chosen that first year. But who would be the first one to be inducted. There was much discussion about who the first one would be.
The consensus at the time was it should be Tommy Johnson, the two time league champion quarterback and all star pitcher. When we told him of the honor he told us he couldn't accept such an honor. There were more deserving candidates.
When we asked why? He told us that while his accomplishments might warrant his inclusion into the Hall, they didn't measure up. There was an athlete that more deserving than he was. His accomplishments paled next to hers.
When we asked him who he believed should be the first inductee into the Hall of Fame he told that Sarah MacKenzie was the most deserving. It was hard to disagree with that assessment.
Sarah's accomplishments were indeed great. She led her teams to seven state championships in three years during a time that Indian Ridge won eleven state championships. All the teams said that Sarah had been their inspiration.
She had led many teams that weren't expected to compete very well. They were picked to be in the middle of the pack. But Sarah inspired many of her teammates to overcome the low expectations of the other coaches.
She told her teammates to not let others determine their worthiness to be champions, but to determine their own worth by their own determination to succeed. No one knew their abilities better than they knew themselves.
Even after they won their first championship and return virtually everyone from the previous year, they were always underestimated as someone else in the league was supposed to be better than Sarah, but that never happened.
She was always the best as she was a league all star nine times and won six league MVPs. No one ever had the success that Sarah had. She was an inspiration to not only the athletes, but to the coaches themselves.
After reviewing her achievements she became the first inductee into the Indian Ridge Athletic Hall of Fame. But our recognition of Sarah MacKenzie didn't stop there.
In 1997 the Indian Ridge Athletic Complex was renamed the Sarah MacKenzie Athletic Complex in honor of her athletic talents, her leadership, and her inspiration. Our only regret was that Sarah wasn't there for the dedication.
After viewing the great wall we now understand. Sarah was serving our country in the same manner she serve al of us, with great leadership and dedication. Sarah MacKenzie, on behalf of the Indian Ridge Community, we thank you."
The film showed Sarah with tears in her eyes. Never in the world did she ever expect to hear such wonderful words concerning the years she spent here. A place she couldn't wait to get away from. She had made a difference afterall.
When the Admiral saw the Colonel with tears in her eyes, it reminded him of what she had told him about her time in high school. He decided to share some information with the people gathered there.
"Colonel MacKenzie didn't believe that there were any obstacles that couldn't be overcome if you believe in yourself and work hard. She was surprised that they had renamed the Athletic Complex after her. She couldn't believe that she had made such an impression on so many people."
The next person to stand up at the front of the audience was Carol Barton. She was a member of the National Honor Society at Indian Ridge during the time Sarah was there.
"I want to thank everyone for coming tonight to honor Sarah MacKenzie, an American Hero. She was a good friend and great inspiration to many of us who were in the honor society.
For many of us we didn't know what extra curricular activity to participate in to increase our chances of getting into the University of our choice. Sarah suggested forming a group to help out less fortunate young girls who didn't have someone in their lives to help them.
In this case young girls who were troubled and didn't have a female role model. She was instrumental of us in forming group that later became a branch of the Big Sister program in 1983. It began small with only ten volunteers serving twenty five girls.
Our organization grew to thirty volunteers serving a hundred girls four years later when she graduated. But we didn't stop there. Over the next fours years others continued to join our organization increasing to one hundred and twenty volunteers serving over five hundred girls in a ten town area.
Today our organizations has over two thousands volunteers serving over nine thousands girls in the surrounding area. It wouldn't have been possible if not for Sarah's inspiration.
In 1995 we named our program after Sarah, The Sarah MacKenzie Big Sister Association. We have help over fifteen thousands girls since we began eighteen years ago. We want to thank you Sarah for finally giving us the opportunity to say thank you."
The Admiral took the opportunity to tell everyone gathered what the Colonel had told him after that presentation,
"The Colonel was shocked to hear that she had inspired such a wonderful program that continued to grow and serve so many young girls long after she had left. That they had chosen to her in such a manner was heart warming and unexpected.
She had started the program to help other young girls like herself who had no one to turn to. She wanted to be there for someone because she thought it could make a difference in a young girl's life to know that someone actually cared.
Athletics to her was her salvation in high school. She had great coaches who listened to her and help her deal with her mother leaving her. They helped her to be successful in school and assisted her in navigating the next phase of her life, a good college.
She learned that hard work led to success and opportunity. And with that success it led her to her successful career in the Marines.
She was surprised to learn that many of her classmates had continued to be a part of the Big Sister Program after so many years. She had been surprised that they would name the program after her since there many who had given so much to the program. She had only help start the program."
"Sarah was our inspiration. She had overcome so much in her life to achieve so much in so short a period. She was a great Scholar, a great Athlete, a great Leader, and more importantly to us, she was a great human being.
We have done our best over the years to live up to the high standards that she inspired in us to maintain.
We have seen tonight by Sarah outstanding military record that she has continued to maintain only the highest standard of excellence that she taught us so many years ago.
She is considered to be one f the finest lawyers in the military. She speaks eight languages. She recently received the highest award that the Marine Corps has to offer, one that only one other woman has received in one hundred and forty years.
Sarah continues to be our inspiration. You have made a great impact on our lives. We want to thank you Sarah for being our friend and serving our country in the highest possible fashion." concluded Carol Barton.
"As you can see Sirs, Colonel MacKenzie was a special individual in high school. This a time when great leaders are born. As you have seen hat she not only was a great athlete, but a great scholar, leader, and humanitarian.
We all wonder how to find great leaders. What is it about them that makes them so great? Once we have found them what can we do to help them succeed? I think we have seen the answer today.
I have to be honest with you, I had known something about her history before joining the marines. I knew that her mother had abandoned her and that her father was an abusive alcoholic, but what I didn't know was what she had done to overcome her trouble life.
I had though her Uncle was the inspirational force in her life, but I was wrong, he only played a small part in her success. Colonel MacKenzie had the intestinal fortitude to be successful all on her own.
That she shared her ability with so many who continue her work shows great leadership almost twenty years later is deserving of recognition." orated the Admiral.
SecNav Nelson and the CNO were greatly impressed with what they saw. They all knew how good a Marine she was. They had been receiving reports about her work through out the years long before she became an important name in Washington.
Everywhere she had gone and had been stationed she had been recognized for her outstanding work, first in Japan, then Bosnia, and now in Washington. She had received accelerated promotions every few years. She was a rising star at Jag. She had polish and great military bearing.
They never knew her full history, that she had overcome so much difficulty in her young life. That she could inspire so many people that they had continued her work twenty years later was astonishing.
Foundations were usually named for people who had contributed to society for many years and in many cases after the person had died to recognize their life's work. It was unusual that they would name a foundation after someone who had limited involvement.
Though they could understand why that was because it was the Colonel who had initiated the program in the beginning. She had inspired many other young women who had continued her work and built it into a successful program.
They in turned had inspired others to the point it was one of the largest Big Sisters Programs of its kind in the country.
They were also a little surprised that an Athletic Complex would be named after her though. Again, something like naming a complex usually recognized years of contribution to the program. The naming usually took place when the individual retired from active participation.
They had to admit that her athletic contribution exceeded anything they had ever heard of before. Many athletes excelled at one sport, but to excel at three different sports was unbelievable. Her accomplishments were beyond imagination.
That she inspired others to exceed expectation was noteworthy. She had overcome so much, achieved so much more, and inspired so many others by simply knowing them. AJ was right. The Colonel was due special recognition.
They thought a special award ceremony on the fourth was warranted and of course it would make for great press for the military.