Millions have evacuated the East Coast ahead of Hurricane Matthew, including several military bases, one of which is housing Marines at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville.
Parris Island, a Marine Corps recruit depot in the South Carolina Lowcountry, has evacuated all non-essential personnel which includes almost 6,000 recruits.
Most all recruits and personnel from Parris Island are being moved to the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia, however, four members of the Parris Island Marine Band will be stationed at Riverside Military for the duration of the storm to help work with the Riverside band cadets.
“We all needed a place to go,” said Corporal Jose Toranzo Infante, french horn and assistant drum major. “We figured it would be great to give something back and just extend our skill set and help this band grow.”
Infante, along with Corporal Elizabeth Kelson (percussion) and Corporal Tiffany Woda (trumpet) all served under Chief Warrant Officer 2 Stephen Giove while he was the Officer in Charge of the Parris Island Marine Band the past three years. Lance Corporal Brianna Munoz (clarinet) joined the band shortly after Giove retired to take the Director of Bands position at Riverside Military this summer.
“This band has never experienced anything like this,” said Giove, as he watched his Riverside band cadets receive instruction from four graduates of the Naval School of Music.
The four Marines will live on the Riverside campus until it is deemed safe to return to Parris Island. The timetable for that is still up in the air.
“Until we get further notice, this is where we’ll be,” said Infante, who is originally from Miami, Florida.
Infante still has family in the Miami area who have decided to stay at home and wade out the storm as, according to Infante, they have been through multiple other hurricanes, including Katrina, and their home is ‘good to go for that sort of thing.’
As for the evacuation from Parris Island, Infante and Munoz said the roads they traveled were ‘fairly clear.’
“Most of the people who were in the barracks with us,” Munoz said. “They evacuated the day before. We had to stay because we had to play for graduation. After that, we just packed up our stuff and tried to head out as soon as we could.
“Because the recruits were still on base at the time, it wasn’t that chaotic.”
The graduation ceremony Munoz, Infante and the rest of the Parris Island Marine Band had to stay for was moved from Friday up to Wednesday with the Marines evacuating shortly thereafter.
