Skip to main content
ARTEP.....

We are in the process of completing our ARTEP at Camp Shelby. This is the last thing that we have do to do before we are validated for our deployment to Iraq. I will be home on block leave for 10 days to see my wife and kids very soon. I can't wait until Wednesday. But, one thing that bothers me is the fact that I will have to say goodbye to them....again. I was only 19 during my last combat tour, and I had no wife, no kids, and no worries....besides my own that is.

I look back on my military career, and I am content with what I have done over the course of my life, but I am cognizant of the stresses that this lifestyle has put on my wife, my kids, my marriage, and my family. Tomorrow will be five years to the day that all of this God-awful mess started. No matter what the cause for what put on this road, the point remains that there is no end in sight. I look at my OCS class, and we have people in almost every corner of the world.

Oh well, why dwell on the dark and dreary. This time on Thursday I will be at home with my sons, my daughter and my wife. My oldest son will be a Freshman in high school when I return. My middle son will be in fourth grade. And my daughter will be in Kindergarten. I will miss some things, but with modern technology I can talk to them almost every single day. But, nothing replaces being there......
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
I just found your site and I am so proud of you. I appreciate your sacrifice and I want to show my support for you and your loves. I am a white 33 year old male with a wife of 16.5 years. We have a 15 yr. old son and a 12 year old daughter. I wanted to be you when I was in high school. I hurt my wrist playing football and I was medically unfit for duty. I wanted to be a foot soldier. Thanks for sharing your life with the rest of the world. I live in Hattiesburg, if you ever need anything.... GOD be with and for you;
Protector of My Freedom
7:21 AM
Anonymous said…
All I can say is, Thank You. Thank you to both you and your wonderful family. If it's a comfort, please just remember that you may be away, but you aren't alone. Two of my three sons have volunteered to join the fight. This war will end, but let's pray it ends when the job is done.
6:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being an Officer...a Black one.....is sometimes hard. [Howard Rollins from "A Soldier's Story"] Sometimes being an Officer is difficult....not because of hard tasks, short timelines, or all of the worries involved in the care of your Soldier's, but the aura of professionalism and objectivity that you must display at all times. There have been many times that I have wanted to make a comment, yell, cuss at someone, or otherwise let my personal feelings be known about a subject, but unfortunately I could not because of my position. Let me tell you about two incidents that bothered me in particular. I was in Dallas Ft. Worth airport waiting to catch a flight on the last leg of my TDY trip to help a returning unit at Ft. Sill. As I went to my gate, I saw 4 Sailors in their black uniforms gathered at the gate...one was large and white, the other three were black. There was very little room, and many of them were standing intermingled with civilian airline passengers...
7 comments
Read more
One day and one half... I just woke up in my hotel room after a night of fun and good times with my wife at 4th Street Live. I glanced out the window, and realized that I was facing the sullen reality that I have today and tomorrow on leave, and that Tuesday means the end of my contact with my family for a great while. I have approached this time on leave with the solid intent of not concentrating on how much time I had left, but rather the quality of the time that I was using. Somehow, it just didn't work like I thought that it would. I have noted that these past two weeks have flown by, much quicker than any other two weeks that I have experienced in my life. If deployment were to go like this, the time wouldn't seem so unbearable. But, nonetheless I suppose that I need to get myself prepared for the inevitable. The reality is that my oldest son Devon who just finished the seventh grade will be starting his Freshman year of High School once I get back. Robbie who just ...
6 comments
Read more
Sometimes I wish I were back..... Back in what is familiar. The sights, the sounds, the stench, the heat, the utter drudgery of Southwest Baghdad. Now that I have been back for over six months I wish that I could go back. I wish I could go back and do it all over. Because maybe if I did something different over there, things would okay over here.....
4 comments
Read more