Faith. Family. Fearless. Freedom.
One of the commanders spoke to address the families and soldiers as we prepared to send-off our son and his brothers and sisters in arms to a combat zone, and he stressed all four of these concepts.
As he went more in-depth about each principle, I realized - our son is a living embodiment of all of these things.
Faith - we brought him up to know the Faith that my father taught me, to always love and honor the Holy Father of the universe.
Family - our son knew without a doubt that his family fully supported his efforts to serve his country, and he's always brought honor to his family in everything he does. We hope and pray one day that he has a family of his own. He was also now part of a bigger family; an entire battery of men and women who trained with him and prepared him for his mission.
Fearless - my son had already faced the fear his father always had of signing the dotted line to serve his nation. He is now a part of the just under 1% that serve, and he didn't even hesitate when he found out he was eligible to serve in the military. Even as he prepared for this deployment, I saw no fear in his eyes; just a regret that he had to leave us behind for a time. But his demeanor never showed fear.
Freedom - our son has been a flag-waving, red-blooded American through and through, and had always been one of the most patriotic people I've ever known. If anyone understands the origin of our country and what it's supposed to be, it's him.
Yep, my wife and I are both proud. I really just had to share this, because my emotions are all bubbling over, and pride was one of the things all three commanders that spoke said to maintain throughout our 'soldier's' tour.
So Hooah! for the power of the letter 'F'... I will hold down the 'Fort' while you're gone, son.
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