Battle of the Bilge

“By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder — infinitely prouder — to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys.”
- General Douglas MacArthur

Sacrifice

You won’t see any controversial subjects or email debunking in this post, just a note of appreciation to all fathers, both civilian and especially military. The sacrifice of being away from family members and newborns while deployed is something that most of us can hardly comprehend. While I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be around for the beginning of my boys’ lives, and look forward in the coming days to the arrival of my first girl, I see and hear every day the pain felt by long deployments and family separation.

To the fathers at home and abroad, thank you for your sacrifices and your commitment to raising a new generation of leaders. A new wave of children born of the digital age and destined to see events as wondrous and monumental as we have and as our parents did before us.

Chandler the Brave

I would like to direct your attention to a touching story of family sacrifice and love through the eyes of a nine year old girl named Chandler Dix. With her father deployed to Afghanistan, she holds the type of courage that illustrates the American spirit. Available at the TheMOAAChannel on YouTube and produced by MOAA’s multimedia guru Haley Crum:

Help Everyone Out

Besides contributing to MOAA’s Educational Assistance program (members will need to sign in, guests are welcome to sign our guestbook), you can take some time and send your representatives in Congress a message asking them to support the Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Bill (H.R. 4899). See this pdf document for the letter that was sent by MOAA’s President VADM Norb Ryan (USN-Ret.), a proud father as well, to every member of Congress for details about why this is so important to get passed without delay, especially before the July 4th recess. Find your legislative representatives at MOAA’s Legislative Action Center here.

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