There's nothing quite like the love of a father. They will guide you, teach you and protect you at all costs. When our father's are military men, they hold a whole different level of weight on their shoulders. While fighting they are protecting not just their children, but their country and the world from the war on terror. They miss out on so much of their children's lives while doing so. These men put so many others before themselves and ask for nothing in return.
Thank you to all the Father's of the world. You are loved more than you could ever know.
And to my Dad, I love you. You served in United States Navy with pride and you taught me alot along the way. I was never an easy daughter to raise but we always had a friendship that surpassed all the hardships.
☆ Happy Father's Day ☆
I SALUTE YOU ALL
Marines Leave No Man Behind
ReplyDeleteI thought I would recount a brief tale, a story that is, for me, one of affirmation, comfort, and promise.
On a recent crowded flight from Phoenix to Dallas during October of 2010, the flight crew was nearly overburdened with milling passengers attempting to board with over packed carry-on luggage which would neither fit in the overheads nor under the seats. Confusion reigned. The flight crew finally seated everyone and successfully stowed or checked all the various pieces of carry-on. As things happened, the flight crew was the same crew as on my first leg into Phoenix.
Just before rolling back from the gate, one of the Flight Attendants came back to my aisle seat to finish a conversation we'd started in the Terminal regarding three young Marines who were also passengers on the flight. That conversation about the three Marines is another tale for another time. The story she related to me in that momentary exchange just before take-off is what I want to pass on to you.
Her husband was a Navy Corpsman during the Viet Nam War. He was part of a Marine Platoon on the "front lines" (if there were such things). He was severely wounded but survived long enough to return home and be hospitalized in a location where she could be with him (I took it to be Balboa).
A day or two before he died, he suffered some sort of seizure and was in a coma. She never left his side. He awoke from the coma and was able to talk with her. I could tell that even after all the intervening years the memory was still painful, she had never remarried.
As she related the end of her tale, her eyes softened and her face became peaceful. A small smile played about her lips.
The day before he died, he took her hand and told her everything was going to be OK. He was going to be fine and she should not to worry about him. He told her that 3 of his buddies had come to him and were with him now. They had come to stay with him and take him with them. He said they were with him in the room and he had no fear. He died peacefully the next day.
She discovered the three names he gave her were names of Marines he had treated, but who had not survived in Viet Nam. I'm not sure what prompted her to relate her account to me, but I'm certainly happy she did.
I hope this message brings you as much confirmation, peace and solace as it did for me. I felt it was another blessing from God. Given that, I pass it on to you.