year ago? It seems like it went by so fast now yet the 8 months that he was gone was the longest 8 months of my life. I couldn’t stand the thought of saying goodbye. I just couldn’t. I didn’t want to scare him with my emotions so I held them in as much as I possibly could…. That’s what a Mom does…right? He had more than I could imagine on his mind and needed to see strength. I tried to keep a positive mind set but that was at times nearly impossible. I remember thinking that this was just a bad dream and hoping that I would wake. Since Kyle enlisted in the United States Marine Corps I’ve had one long roller coaster of emotions. Of all
of the jobs he could have selected, he chose infantry… a machine gunner to boot! He wanted to do his part….he enlisted with the most sincere and whole hearted intentions. I begged him to be a welder or a mechanic…. ANYTHING but infantry! He had his mind set though and was grown enough to make that decision. He was fresh out of high school, the world was his…so much of life to experience… What else could I do? Now, here I was at his deployment and flooded with so many feelings…less than a year since he left for bootcamp. I felt pride beyond what I could ever describe. So proud of this fine young man that was willing to sacrifice so much in the name of his country. He made a commitment and would honor that. He vowed to protect and would honor that. He put the lives of everyone else ahead of his own and did so willingly. He befriended many brothers along the way. I’m proud to say that rarely a weekend libert
y goes by that we don’t have a loud houseful of adopted Marines. As proud as I was & always will be I also felt fear. A fear that rocked my very core. Lots of “what ifs” and lots of moments where I just couldn’t breathe. I had flashed back to the day he was born, to his first steps, his first day of school, the field trips we took, our long walks, his ever creative imagination that always kept me entertained and even the times that he drove me completely crazy. 19 years went by in a flash and now he would be s
eeing things that would tamper with his young mind….things that no Mother ever wants her child to see. He stood a great chance of being seriously wounded or worse, fatally wounded. It was almost a guarantee that he would not get to come home with everyone that he deployed with… and sadly that was a reality as 2/7 suffered many casualties. Though I couldn’t bring myself to say goodbye to Kyle, I felt forced to say goodbye to a part of him that I feared would never be the same…. A part that would remain in a foreign country. The
most common advice that I received from friends and family was not to watch the news or listen to the reports of this war. Anyone that knows me knows that there was no way that I would ever avoid those updates. I absolutely HAD to know what was happening. Not knowing would have made me crazy. I had my routine every morning like clockwork. I would get up well before anyone else in the house and check each creditable site that I had bookmarked to track their every move. I followed embedded reporter blogs and even kept up with a few Afgan news sites. I searched thousands upon thousands of images of 2/7 in hopes to see his sweet face or the faces of our adopted Marines that we’ve known and grown to love so much.I thank God that my boy and most of his unit made it home safely. I pray for those that didn’t and for their families whose hearts are heavy with their losses. I pray for my son who lost 14 of his brothers during that deployment; some that he was very close to.
For those fallen soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force and for the many, many fallen soldiers of every branch you are loved and missed.
Sgt Washington, Michael Toussiant-Hyle (20)
PFC Patton, Michael Robert (19)
LCPL Crass, Layton Bradly (22)
PFC Pietrek, Dawid (24)
CPT Terhune, Eric Daniel (34)
LCPL Whitacre, Andrew Francis (21)
SGT Mendoza, Matthew E. (24)
PFC Wilson, Ivan I. (22)
LCPL Lopez-Castaneda Juan (19)
CPL Mihalo, Anthony G. (23)
SGT Bell Jr. Jerome C. (29)
CPL Karella, Jason A. (20)
CPL Robles, Adrian (21)
In most cases my next request goes without asking but for those that need a gentle reminder; please take an opportunity to thank a soldier. Should you cross paths with someone that serves our country, are related to a soldier in some way, or know of a family that has a loved one serving… in what ever capacity, please let those brave men & women know that they are appreciated. There are so many ways to support our troops. One thing that I’ve learned throughout Kyle’s enlistment is that we naively believe that our troops have enough support. Sadly, many of those that serve do not have loved ones that stand behind them…. Or anyone for that matter. We’ve learned of many that didn’t have someone waiting to greet them on victory field for their homecoming or that didn’t receive one single letter nor care package while fighting for our freedom… while making sure that we were safe. This has been enlightening beyond what I can adequately describe. It took a young boy’s enlistment for my eyes to be opened to all that we don’t see. I thank him and so many others for that and will never again take for granted the freedom that we are privileged to have… the freedom that comes with the ultimate price. Freedom never was nor ever will be *free*.
Beautifully written Donna!
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