Spartans celebrate families

  • Published
  • By Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Winstead
  • 4-25 BCT Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  A celebration of marriage, a proposal and a first dance marked this year's 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion Ball Oct. 6.

Typically, a military ball is a special event where family members and Soldiers of all ranks can come together and celebrate their accomplishments over the past year.
For three couples, though, the event was even more memorable.

They chose the annual ball, among friends and comrades, as the perfect opportunity to mark special moments in their own lives.

Spc. Anthony Couch, a training room assistant assigned to C Company, 425th BSTB, took to the dance floor for the first dance of the evening with his new bride Christy Couch, a paralegal from N.C., who flew in under the assumption she was just going to be Anthony's date for the evening.

The couple had been dating off and on for years and decided to get married at 8:45 a.m. the morning of the ball. They were married by C Company's 1st Sgt. Brandon Dimick.
A second couple took to the floor midway through the evening.

To the applause of everyone in the room, Sgt. Brian Pismeny proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Spc. Chloe Varnum.

The attending guests stood and cheered as the presiding commanders at the head table beamed with pride over their Soldiers.

"We are here to keep traditions alive," said Army Col. Morris Goins, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division commander. "Despite the strenuous requirements of an impending deployment, we have remembered our traditions tonight."
A third couple gained the attention and praise of the crowd when they announced that they were about to celebrate their first official dance since their marriage in October 2008.

Spc. Timothy Flournoy, a driver for the brigade commander, and his wife Marlena Rae Flournoy, danced to a song by Journey as friends and co-workers celebrated.

"This has been a great year for us," Flournoy said. "Our daughter, Sydney Rae Flournoy, was born in April of this year and we finally got our first dance tonight."

The rest of the evening had its share of heartfelt moments, but the three couples kept the morale and spirits higher than the rest.

There was no requirement to stay, but like a family gathered for a holiday, many did.