Twenty-six years ago, on November 5, 1983 my wonderful DH (then just a 17-year-old high school student) joined the California Air National Guard. Last week was his 26th Anniversary of Military Service and, as expected, he spent the day without any fanfare, off somewhere flying a mission. It's been an amazing 26 years for him -- he's been an F-16 crew chief, then an F-16 pilot, and since 2003 he's been flying a different aircraft... and serving as an Instructor Pilot. (By the way, he's full-time, active duty -- not a traditional Guardsman.) Where was he on September 11, 2001? He spent that afternoon and evening patrolling the skies over San Francisco in his F-16, praying for our nation.
He's been deployed and TDY'd countless times: Germany, Panama, Curacao, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and (of course) Iraq (6 deployments).... not to mention Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Turkey and who-knows-where-else! He's missed a lot of holidays. He's missed a lot of birthdays. He's missed a lot of anniversaries, And he's gone from being a brand-spanking new teenager fresh out of basic military training to a graduate of Air Command & Staff College and a Lieutenant Colonel! His plans? Lord willing, to stay in until he "ages out" at age 54 ... 11 more years. If he makes it that far, he will have served 37 straight years in the military.
He's my husband.
He's my best friend.
He's my hero.