GraniteGrok

Update 2:

Can I claim both right and wrong?  See the comment by one who knows better than I!

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Update 1:

Charlie has returned from deployment! 

And he is Marine, not Army (sorry!  REALLY sorry!)

-Skip 

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As per normal, I was just surfing the 'Net last night.  Can't stand watching most TV shows, especially ABC, CBS, and NBC.  I'd rather try to pick up something new or read something interesting as opposed to the dribble that passes as TV nowadays (yes, I have cable, and generally stick to TLC, Discovery, and networks like that).

Just saw that another man has been activated, Charlie over at Op-For.  A new site (not much older than GraniteGrok), it is part of the stable of the milblogs I read pretty much every day.  Godspeed, Charlie, and may He keep you safe.

I've never met him....I can read that he is an officer in the Army, but no other detail.  The only thing I know is that he has heeded the call again....the first time when he decided to be an officer, and again when the call came, he again went ("went / sent" confused? Read here).  So why do I write?

I never served.  I never went to any boot camp.  I never underwent the trials, tribulations, or the difficulties of military service (nor reaped the rewards). But as a Dad, reading this announcement from Op-For, it hit home.

Hard, very hard.

My son was just discharged from the Marines (knee injury).  We praise God that he came home safely, and we pray for those families whose sons and daughters have not. He also heeded the call, enlisting into the Marines.  I remember when as SSgt Chessier picked him up to bring him to MEPS Boston.  The Most Esteemed Wife and I walked him down to the SSgt's car at the end of the driveway.  We went through the obligatory hugs and trite words; I shook hands with SSgt Chessier, and thanked him.  They got into the car, backed out of the driveway and turned to go up the hill.  A beep, a wave; then he was gone.

The Most Esteemed Wife and I just held each other at the end of the driveway.  My Mom finally walked past us, the only communication a quick glance, my eyes locking momentarily with hers.  Then she quietly got into her car, and drove away.  Not a word was spoken; none were needed.

We continued to stand there, arms wrapped around each other for what seemed a very long time, very quiet.  For us, a seminal moment - our oldest had just left to make his own way in the world. The reality crashed down upon us of what he was now embarking upon, that he may sacrifice the full amount of what might be required.  He left, knowing full well where he would most likely be sent (he was).  In that split second, we aged a lifetime; a tiny baby had grown into a man - we had just been thrust harshly into middle-age by reality.  Our false delusions of still being "young" fell aside in an instant - we aged perceptibly in a flash.  I felt old...

We stood there until we no longer could. 

I support Charlie.  Godpeed, Charlie.  

But now I realize that I was not alone at the end of my driveway. 

For now I, along with millions of others like me, stand with his Dad at the end of his driveway.

Been there, cried there.