Today is the day Seth graduates from Army Basic Combat Training. I’m currently sitting in a motel room just outside of Fort Jackson, South Carolina. My tremendous wife of 34 years and our daughter Renee are here with me. I know the rest of my great family is with us in thoughts and prayers. I feel the prayers of my church family surrounding me.It is hard to believe that just eight short months ago, Seth was walking a different aisle. It was his high school graduation. It is true. Time does go faster as you get older.
I will be proud to be in attendance today. Seth has done well, including, being the top shooter in his platoon of 200. We got to see him yesterday at “Family Day” and he looks great. Like I’ve said before, he was already a good man, but the Army has made him stand taller. When he wears that uniform he is a different person. His jaw locks….his shoulders are upright…..and he walks with confidence.
Now, as proud as I will be today, I must admit, I would rather be somewhere else. What? Allow me to explain.
I really wish Seth had chosen to do something else. I wanted him to go to college. I really wanted him to be a lawyer. Those of you who never saw him in a debate really missed it. He was good!! He was quick thinking, articulate, and convincing. He was passionate.
His mom, however, told me later on, after he left for basic, that she knew I was fighting a losing battle. She knew from the time he was age nine that he would go into the Army; he as much as told her. Whenever Seth’s friends came over to play, it was required that they come in camo. He had an armory full of play guns for dispensing and there was always a “fort” built close by to prepare for battle. Jenny said she just figured she had plenty of time to talk him out of it. It didn’t happen.
What drives Seth? “Why did he go into the military” people often ask me. Well, I have a little insight into that. We have a pretty strong military tradition in our family. I had an uncle who was killed at Pearl Harbor. My father in law landed in Normandy on D-Day. I was in the Air Force.
However, that is only part of it. I asked Seth one time why he felt so passionate about this. His response is nothing short of noble. “Dad….I owe it to this country for providing me the opportunities that I have.”
That played out the day he left for Basic on Sunday, October 17th at 3:30 PM (I remember it that well). I will admit….I lost it. I hugged him and held him as tight as I had ever held him before and told him I loved him. After a minute he pulled away and said, “I gotta go Dad.” It wasn’t a “I’m late and gotta run” statement. It was a statement of moral imperative. This was something he felt he had to do.
So, who am I to stand in his way?
Another reason my wife and I don’t want to be here today, is we know where this is going. We know that eventually we will be saying goodbye for an extended period of time as he serves an overseas deployment. As one military mother told me that is when the real ache in your heart will occur.
However, who am I to expect other parents to do this and feel that mine are exempted?
So here we are today. Very proud! The ache in our hearts will be pushed down deeper. We will smile and hug and cheer.
We will let him know that as long as he chooses this course of action that his family will be his biggest fans!!
Hooah Private Gabbard!
