Few non-military families fully understand the turmoil of deployments. For those of us that are privileged enough to serve our great nation, we know this simple truth. Deployments are hardest on our children. While it is extremely difficult to kiss spouses, parents, and friends goodbye, each of us knows that they will be ok. We know that our families support our decision to serve and that they will find some comfort in rationalizing thoughts such as “we are serving the greater good,” “we are a part of something bigger than ourselves,” or “we are doing what we love...” With our children this is not the case. When we deploy we are asking them to do so without one of the most important people in their lives. We are asking them to live without the person that is supposed to be there to protect them, guide them, and care for them. We are asking them to be without a person that has been there for them their entire life. No one understands the truth of this more than my five year old daughter, Summer. I deployed for the first time since she had been born when she was two years old. Though I had been gone twice before that deployment, it was by far the hardest. It still breaks my heart to think of Summer and my wife, Laura, standing there waving and crying. It especially was hard to hear that later she had told my wife “I told daddy not to leave me.” My greatest concern was for my baby girl. She was, without a doubt, her daddy’s girl. I was terrified that because she was so young that our special bond would be broken. I was afraid that she would not even remember who I was when I returned, and that she would be scared of me. Would she be mad at me for leaving her behind? I worried that if I didn’t make it home, how would she grow up without her daddy? What would her life be like without me? How would she turn out? As soldiers, we readily deploy without reservation or concern for our own personal safety. We realize that we are guardians of freedom and the American way of life. We do not fear for ourselves. Our thoughts and prayers are for the little ones we leave behind. Jeremiah O’Berry cinamagic dec 2013 - jan 2014
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