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I am not a Marine or member of any other branch of the US armed forces, my son is. I would like to share our experience of sending our son first to Iraq, and specifically this April, to Afghanistan. He did not really want us to be there when he physically left for Iraq. We did stay for his deployment for Afghanistan. The busses were supposed to leave for the AFB at 2400 hrs. With the delays, we were able to chat with our son and some of the other Marines whose families weren't present about every possible topic. Eventually they pulled out around 0400 hrs. All that time there was a dull hummmm of idling busses that were going to carry our Marines away to the AFB. My wife of 28 yrs and I were exhausted in those wee hours and with the anticipation of our son being sent to Afghanistan. I might add that he was being sent to an area that had been lawless and had not had a western presence in 10-15 yrs. It was going to be a tenuous situation to say the least, and everybody knew it. Now, after all the time and false good-byes, it was time for the Marines to load the busses. After that was accomplished, the families didn't know if they were leaving right away or if there would be more waiting. More waiting was in the cards. So family and friends crowded around the idling busses. I watched as moms held very young babies up to windows for what might be their last touch of their fathers. One they wouldn't even remember. There were older children saying goodbye to their daddies. We saw wives and mothers holding hands for what may be the last time. There were fathers trying to be strong and encouraging to their sons as they went off to do their jobs and hopefully come home to carry on with their lives and raise their families. Then the busses slowly started to move out. Every family member and all the friends stepped away from the busses. Everyone was struggling to keep a smile and be strong so our Marines would have that as their last mental picture of the people dear to them. The first thing noticed after the busses were gone was the quiet. The comforting hum of the busses was no longer present. The second thing noticed: many women started crying. Some are sitting alone on a curb quietly weeping onto their forearm, others were leaning into someone else's shoulder, sobbing. It was still very cold in the early morning hours. As the busses left the parking lot and hit the road I saw an older man standing on the sidewalk. I saw him wait for a specific bus. He smiled broadly and waved to the specific bus and where he knew his Marine was sitting. After watching it drive away, he turned and walked to his car, weeping. All the people that were at that farewell wept for a while then changed hats. Their hats of warrior supporters. They know that there are boxes to pack and letters to send. Everything is done to keep our Marines confident that all things are under control here. ~A proud father of a Marine |
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