« LCpl Wyatt - duty and sacrifice | Main | PFC Halvorson's final trip home »

October 20, 2004

The good guys . . .

"Where is Daddy, again?"

That question caught me off guard, shopping at the commissary with my three young sons. "Daddy" just left a few days ago, in the middle of the night.

We saw him, and a bunch of other Marines climb on busses and head out to the first stage of a journey to Afghanistan.

I was already shopping for care package items when my nine year old asked the question.

"Your Dad is in Afghanistan."

"How close is that to Kabul?"

"Kabul is a city in Afghanistan. Kabul is the city, Afghanistan is the country."

My son nodded. "He's going to be gone, like, six months, right?"

"At least."

My youngest, age four, piped up, "But he'll come home for my birthday, right?"

His birthday is just a week away.

The oldest has the best understanding, and the hardest time adjusting.

This is not just what Daddy does, it's part of who he is. I can live with that.

Recently, I heard about a young woman who wanted to find a "safe" job for her fiance` within the confines of the Marine Corps. Something where he wouldn't deploy, wouldn't be in danger, wouldn't have to separate from his true love.

I hate to break the news, but life isn't safe. We're all born, and we all die, and it's what we make of the time in between that really counts.

Three years ago, my husband had what might be called a "safe" billet. He worked in an office in a secured building. He went to work in the morning, commuted home in the evening, and worked pretty regular hours. He was a "pencil pusher", a "desk jockey", back then.

One morning, he got breakfast, a quick hug and kiss, and a "Have a nice day, darlin'," and went off to work. Three hours later, I got to see his office building on a "Live Special Report", and I was watching, as a reporter began to talk, and suddenly was shaken. A moment later, he announced, "Something has just happened here at the Pentagon."

Within mere moments, we got the news. A plane had flown into the newly renovated wedge of the Pentagon. We knew that my husband's office was in that wedge, and it was several hours before I got to hear the dearest sound on earth, my husband's voice, coming in over a poor telephone connection, "Hey, babe, I'm ok."

We made a decision after that. We have three children. They need to grow up in a world where terrorists are terrified of us, not us of them. We will not raise these young American citizens in fear. We will make whatever sacrifices are demanded, to see to it that that happens.

My children don't understand all of that. They understand simple things, like good guys, and bad guys, and Daddy's one of the good guys.

In these days, as we head to elections, and people protest everything under the sun, and the media spends its valuable time seeking out the worst possible images of our military members, I wish that more adults understood the simple stuff.

Daddy, and his fellow men and women in uniform are the good guys.

Posted by at October 20, 2004 09:14 AM

Comments

I wish everyone had a mind of a five year old at times. They don't always understand the detailed things but they sure do get the big picture. Like birthday's! They are important and need to be celebrated. You were brought into this world for a reason and that in itself is worth acknowledging.

Posted by: jamie at October 21, 2004 04:31 AM

People don't remember the simple stuff or face the truth because it's easier not to. Thank you for your words and your husbands service. God bless you all.
PMM

Posted by: devil_dogma at October 21, 2004 07:16 AM

This touched me to my very core. I cannot wait until Election Day. Let's hear it for the "Good Guys". Very Nicely Done, Wife-Amy.

Posted by: AIW at October 27, 2004 07:11 AM