A Tribute to a Military Dad

First and foremost, I want to give a heart-felt "Thank You" to all the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the U.S. Armed Forces to make our freedom and way of live, safe and secure from foreign oppression.

Growing up as a military dependent, I enjoyed the privileges and safety among families while their father's toured abroad.

To see my father come home in his uniform, whether it be his daily khaki or dress blue impressed the hell out of me. I remember pilfering his ensignias, medals and hats and smuggling them to school for show and tell. I even used them as props for"war play" during recess. Little did I know the significance of each of those "fruit salad" ribbons until they were revealed by my father the symbolic token of hard work, dedication and fierce loyalty to the service.

Somehow the only missing factor was his presence in the day to day family. There was a void. As a military child dependent we would bond with other peers, who ultimately became instant siblings. All the while, my father, along with many servicemen, performed their duty on the other side of the wall that we could not see, therefore discounted as another day.

I remember "Base-Hopping" all over the country and different parts of the world where kids like me did not take advantage of the new cultures and environments, yet it was a free look at the window of the world as we know it. But to my father and his colleagues, glamor and exotic places was far from their minds because their mindset was focus on the task at hand - protecting our interests and freedom. It's a thankless job, but merits and advancement were the end result.

My father served 23 years in the Navy and retired with honors as Master Chief Petty Officer (E-8).

Years later, my siblings have inherited the deployment gene and found ourselves living apart in the four extreme corners of the country (Oregon, Texas, Florida and Michigan)

The legacy that my father instilled in each of us was the value of an education, the ability to be free thinkers and the capacity to be self-sufficient and productive.

Had my father not been in the Military, we would have all wound-up somewhere in a dark part of the world scrounging for dignity and integrity.

On this day, I remember this and have a strong appreciation and love for what my father has done as a Veteran.