Some Never Came Home

 

 

I am one of the lucky ones. My dad came home.

My father served in the subservice of the United States Navy for 28 years. For 28 years I watched my dad leave for extended duty. Birthdays, Christmases and countless plays, awards and milestones ticked by without the security of his presence. When he came home, he always looked a bit different. He seemed foreign. But the look in his eyes was always one of joy and love and grace. Oh how I would love to see my father come home, bearing gifts from around the world and stories that kept my imagination fed.

I remember after one long deployment my dad came home 30 pounds lighter. At first, I had no idea who this scrawny man was at our door. But those eyes. They were my daddy's eyes. As a child, there was nothing to understand. It just was the way it was. Daddy had a job to do and his job was to keep our Country safe. I never resented his absence in my life. I simply looked forward to his return.

Similarly, I had no idea what he was sacrificing. My dad served during Vietnam and the Cold War. An estimated 58,220 Americans died in Vietnam. I wonder how many of them were daddies. As deadly as the Vietnam War was, The Cold War was a game of cat and mouse fought on the open ocean, as soviet warships depth-charged American submarines. During this time, as American subs sank into the ocean's vast abyss, I was clueless. I had no idea how much danger my father was in.

My father joined the United States Navy as a submariner in 1958 at the age of 19. He served 28 years and retired when I was 16 years old. My husband served in the United States Navy as a submariner from 1988 to 2012. As an adult I raised my own family with the absence of my husband, leaving for long deployments for a singular mission: to protect the life and freedom we take for granted every day. I thank them both for their service and dedication to their family and Country. Both my father and my husband served and retired. They came home. How blessed I am that they came home.

Since the inception of our great Country, 1,319,943 million American's never came home. They left their mothers, fathers, siblings, wives and children behind. They stepped out from the security of home into harms way to keep America free. This is dedicated to every man, woman, son, daughter, mother, father, brother and sister who paid the ultimate price. Thank you for your service. May you, resting in eternal peace, have finally found your way home.