thedrifter
01-04-08, 05:55 AM
A Marine-made marriage
January 4, 2008
By James D. Wolf Jr. Post-Tribune correspondent
SOUTH HAVEN -- When high school sweethearts Ryan Dame and Katrina Yeo got married Wednesday, they couldn't follow through when the judge said, "you may kiss the bride."
The Marine Corps forbids displays of affection when its members are in uniform.
"You can't just shake hands with your wife," Dame said.
They did hold hands at the family party Thursday night, where they had hoped the judge could marry them. But Dame and Yeo had to work quickly, before she returns to Meridian, Miss., at 7:30 this morning.
"We've been talking about it since we enlisted because that was the only way we could be stationed together," Yeo said. "The options were either break it off or get married."
Their master sergeant suggested they do it before they got stationed apart, so it was almost an order, she said.
The two, who met about five years ago as freshmen in the Portage High School ROTC, announced their wedding on Christmas Eve.
They didn't date until senior year, "but I really liked him when he became my best friend sophomore year," she said. They were always close, and after a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. phone call, Dame professed his feelings over breakfast.
This is the first time they've been together after going to separate training on June 26, he in San Diego and her on Paris Island.
They returned home for the holidays as part of recruitment detail, they explained. He goes to Pensacola, Fla., on Monday.
It's been hard because during boot camp and Marine Combat Training, they weren't allowed phones.
Now they'll have those and e-mail and MySpace.
And being married, they should be stationed together come spring, after completing training, although he will go through secondary school while she gets her first assignment.
They'll most likely spend weekends together then, she said. And they'll have a formal wedding, "a really, really big one, hopefully," she said.
The marriage didn't surprise anyone, their buddy, Keith O'Quinn said. "I knew that they would do it; I just thought it was 'eventually.'"
"I did the same thing when I was their age. My wife and I just took off and got married, and we're together for 20 years now," Dame's dad, Edward, said of he and Donna.
Dame and Yeo both want to serve some time in Iraq and are unsure if the Marines are a career -- he likes architecture, and she wants to be an English teacher and writer.
Ellie
January 4, 2008
By James D. Wolf Jr. Post-Tribune correspondent
SOUTH HAVEN -- When high school sweethearts Ryan Dame and Katrina Yeo got married Wednesday, they couldn't follow through when the judge said, "you may kiss the bride."
The Marine Corps forbids displays of affection when its members are in uniform.
"You can't just shake hands with your wife," Dame said.
They did hold hands at the family party Thursday night, where they had hoped the judge could marry them. But Dame and Yeo had to work quickly, before she returns to Meridian, Miss., at 7:30 this morning.
"We've been talking about it since we enlisted because that was the only way we could be stationed together," Yeo said. "The options were either break it off or get married."
Their master sergeant suggested they do it before they got stationed apart, so it was almost an order, she said.
The two, who met about five years ago as freshmen in the Portage High School ROTC, announced their wedding on Christmas Eve.
They didn't date until senior year, "but I really liked him when he became my best friend sophomore year," she said. They were always close, and after a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. phone call, Dame professed his feelings over breakfast.
This is the first time they've been together after going to separate training on June 26, he in San Diego and her on Paris Island.
They returned home for the holidays as part of recruitment detail, they explained. He goes to Pensacola, Fla., on Monday.
It's been hard because during boot camp and Marine Combat Training, they weren't allowed phones.
Now they'll have those and e-mail and MySpace.
And being married, they should be stationed together come spring, after completing training, although he will go through secondary school while she gets her first assignment.
They'll most likely spend weekends together then, she said. And they'll have a formal wedding, "a really, really big one, hopefully," she said.
The marriage didn't surprise anyone, their buddy, Keith O'Quinn said. "I knew that they would do it; I just thought it was 'eventually.'"
"I did the same thing when I was their age. My wife and I just took off and got married, and we're together for 20 years now," Dame's dad, Edward, said of he and Donna.
Dame and Yeo both want to serve some time in Iraq and are unsure if the Marines are a career -- he likes architecture, and she wants to be an English teacher and writer.
Ellie