Friday afternoon, the first sign that something unusual was happening at Habersham Central High School was the presence of a large vehicle in the parking lot of the auditorium, with official “U.S. Army” lettering on every visible surface. Indoors, uniformed Army officials were standing on the stage of the auditorium. The Habersham Band of Blue – with their instruments – was seated in the auditorium, waiting for one of its own members to receive an award presented to only 125 high school students in the nation. The upcoming ceremony would be broadcast – live – to every classroom in the school.
Senior Dillon Caudell, son of Doug and Donna Caudell of Mt. Airy, had been chosen as a member of the U.S. Army All-American Band for 2015. Onstage Friday, he received from the U.S. Army officers the jacket he will wear as he marches and plays bass drum in the All-American band on Saturday, January 9, in San Antonio, Texas, at half-time when the U.S. Army All-American football game is held.
Also onstage was Dillon’s nominator for the award, the director of Habersham’s Band of Blue, Ryan Dukes. He said onstage that Dillon embodies the qualities of a leader, quoting John C. Maxwell as he said, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Dukes also said that he has known Dillon since fourth grade, when he “hung around the drumline,” in which his sister Dianna performed as a percussionist in the Band of Blue. Dukes congratulated Dillon, “both musically and academically” and called him “a wonderful, upstanding young man.”
Dillon’s parents, Doug and Donna Caudell, were seated with their son onstage at the award ceremony. Donna Caudell also recalls that Dillon was “passionate about music” when he was very young, and now she and her husband appreciate “the amazing music educators who have taught him along the way.” She said that Dillon “has an innate drive to succeed” and that drive has been encouraged by the band director “Mr. Dukes and (drum instructor and English teacher) Dora Lucas.”
Military affiliation is a part of Dillon’s family heritage, having a brother who is an officer in the Army National Guard, and a brother-in-law stationed in Missouri and serving in the Air Force, his mother said. The All-American Band honor is “close to their hearts, ” she said, and “all of our family members say they will be watching the NBC broadcast (on January 9) to try to catch a gliampse of Dillon when he marches.”
Dillon was awarded Eagle Scout status when he was fifteen, and he is now among the top ten in his graduating class. His parents are “beyond proud of who Dillon is as a person, and, of course, that he has been chosen as an All-American Band member,” Donna Caudell continued. “Dillon is a caring young man and being chosen to play for our servicemen is both an honor an a humbling opportunity,” she added.
Dillon said he hopes to attend Georgia Tech or Southern Polytechnic Institute after high school graduation, and to major in mechanical engineering. After college, he said, he plans to “go into the Army Corps of Engineers.”
U.S. Army All-American Marching Band Ceremony Honoring Dillon Caudell
Habersham Central High School
October 2, 2015
Photos by A.N. Williams
Click to enlarge
