Posted on 02/18/2010 6:34:12 AM PST by pingman
Can’t say I saw this one coming.
I awoke this day with a tear moistened pillow, after a night of unsettling dreams. Put on the coffee at 0530, same as I have every day for the last 30 years, but I knew that everything in my life from today forward had somehow changed.
Little things set me off to blubbering like a girly-man: a red squirrel searching for a late winter cache of acorns tucked in by the stone wall that the deer had yet to find. The same wall that 19 years ago, a happy little boy delighted in scampering along the top of in his green rubber boots, while his Mom admonished him not to “break his neck” doing so. He never did.
The canoe in the rack, a reminder of the giddy delight he took early on catching a chubby bass, insisting on removing the hook himself.
The back yard, where, at age five he stirred up a nest of “yellow-jack-hornets” that flew up inside his short pants, stinging the bejeezus out of his privates.
The utility knife in my toolkit with the last remnants of red paint on it and a barely legible label that reads ‘Danger!’, customized after Sonny Boy cut his hand working on some unfinished symphony out in the shop. Never took that knife away from him; figured he’d already learned the hard lesson. He had; we never had to rush him in for a few stitches thereafter.
School was always tough for him. It wasn’t a matter of intelligence; he just bristled early on at the environment, the pace of things. The countless sessions we spent at Parent-Teacher conferences, hearing about how our son was a complete thorn, a disturbance in their otherwise smoothly running force, and how uncomfortable I felt hearing their analysis of the facts. How wrong they were.
We raised him to think for himself, however maddening it was at times. I’ve lost count of how many times I said: “If you don’t have a plan of your own, you’re just part of someone else’s plan.” He’d roll his eyes, saying “Yeah, Dad.” Apparently, the lesson stuck with him.
So at 0600, after our coffee was gone and our farewells were said, hugging his Mom & I goodbye, we waved as he drove down the road, headed for his first duty assignment as a Sonar Tech in the U.S. Navy, headed for Newport News, VA to catch a ‘Boomer’, the USS Tennessee, SSBN-734.
Wifey and I hugged for what seemed like hours, both of us caught up in the shared emotion of the moment. It wasn’t like this when we dropped him off at the Recruit Center to ship off to RTC Great Lakes, IL for boot camp. Nor was it like this at his boot graduation day or his A-School graduation day at Groton. The pride was there in each instance, but the emotion was different, more like seeing him off to Boy Scout Camp. It was the stark realization that we had seen firsthand a happy little boy grow up into a confident, inner-directed young man, ready to face unknown challenges in the pursuit of something larger than his personal self-interest. Gladly, willingly. and without reservation.
America, God shed his grace on thee. Where would our country be without young men like this? To my utter disgrace, I was not that young man. In my day, there was a shooting war on in Vietnam, and I had no interest in getting my ass shot up. I grew my hair, passed the pipe and thought anyone that went in the military was a sucker. I was juvenile, caught up in the times, but should have known better. After all, both my folks were career Naval Officers who led by example; one that I was too immature to understand. What a putz.
So, my prayer for today & everyday: Lord, keep our Son safe, and bring him home to us, someday soon. He has a new family now, the Blue and the Gold, the U.S. Navy!
Sorry for the vanity, but I had to write this down to get through this day. I felt the FR community would relate. To all of you in the U.S. military, past and present: Thank You for your service to our Nation. You will never be appreciated enough by those who take their freedom for granted.
I pray for your son’s safety and also share in your pride at raising such a fine young American.
God bless you and your wife as well pingman!
Great vanity (got me a bit teary eyed, too!).
Congrats on raising such a fine son.
Whew - that’s good stuff - you owe me a monitor, this one oddly enough just went all fuzzy...
God bless you, and your son, and may He preserve him for many, many decades and bring you grandchildren, and great grandchildren.....
What a wonderful tribute to your son and to his obviously proud parents. You should afford him the opportunity to read your words. As a VietNam vet I am proud of your son for his decision to serve. He never would have made the decision though without the guidance and support he received from two wonderful and loving parents. I commend you on a job well done.
Thanks for sharing. Being a parent of members of the United States armed forces has to be one of the proudest and most humbling roles God can select for us. Stand tall and keep smiling!
Just WOW,
and blurry screen.,..
Thank you for raising a brave American patriot..
Thank him for his loyal service to our great country...
Tennessee Nana
USAF veteran
I often had called myself lucky to have been just young enough to have missed the draft. I realize now how UNlucky I have been, on so many levels, to have NOT served in our military.
Godspeed to you and yours. You have raised a Beautiful Son.
A fellow putz.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for loaning us your son. I pray for his safety, courage and honor. He was obviously raised well.
Colonel, USAFR
“Vietnam, and I had no interest in getting my ass shot up”
There it is.
Did you ever know anyone who had that interest?
I didn’t, not a single one, ever.
I offer my prayers for your son’s safety and well being. I offer my thanks to him for his service. Lastly to you and your wife a hug and my thanks for raising him to be one of our greatest.
mrs
Beautifully written.
God bless your family!
Outstanding! All blessings on you and yours!
Prayers.
God bless you, your son and family!
GREAT POST!
Thank you all for your service to this country.
you obviously did a good job raising your son
may God look over him
signed by a retired navy Chief
3 tours in nam (swiftboats)
and volunteered to get my ass shot off
God bless your son. Let him know that I appreciate his sacrifice.
Thank you for your sacrifice as well. Many forget the emotional sacrifices made by family members.
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