By William Garvey
Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.
~H. Jackson Brown
One of the proudest moments of my life started with a question. The question came from our son Tim, who wanted to join the Army. Shortly after his nineteenth birthday, he asked if I would take him down to the recruiting office and drop him off, saying I could watch him being sworn in if I wanted. I told him, "I wouldn't miss that moment for anything in the world."
After we arrived at the recruiting station, we were led into a room for the swearing in. The Army commander explained the swearing in, and the oath the recruits were about to take, asking the soldiers if they were attending of their own free will. All answering, "Yes, Sir!" He then asked the group to hold up their right hands and follow him, repeating the vow to serve our country.
As I looked at the soldiers, it was obvious that every one of them meant every word. The service took my breath away. They all knew what they had just committed to do. I kept saying to myself, "Dear Lord, give them strength!"
The ride home was one of the longest of my life. I felt like I had just given my son away. Questions filled my mind. "Had we taught him all he needed to know? Did he listen? What would he be like when he was done? Did he know how much his mom and I loved him?" This was my little boy! We watched him grow up, and now he belonged to America.
***
Fast forward to Tim's second tour of duty in Iraq. He called and asked if we would mind if he came home on leave for Christmas. Just the thought of our family being together for Christmas took my breath away. Waiting for the day we could pick up our son from the airport seemed to take forever.
When the day finally arrived, many people at the airport asked us if the welcome home sign (our daughter Natalie proudly displayed) was for a soldier. We said yes, it was for our son Tim and we were there to welcome him home from a year in Iraq. All of the people we talked to made us feel so proud with their words of thanks. Most everyone asked us to thank Tim for serving our country. We said we would do our best to let him know.
I could hear people in the terminal clapping as Tim passed by them on his way to us. I stood there speechless, listening to all the questions and words of thanks from people like us who were calling my son a hero.
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After picking up his bags we made our way to the parking lot and were loading his things into our trunk. Tim said, "Oh, I almost forgot! Here, Dad," as he pulled out a box from his duffle bag. "Sorry about the box, Dad. I think it got flattened on the trip!" he said.
As I looked at the red, white and blue box, trying to figure out what it was, I pulled the end open to reveal an American flag. Tim said, "Happy Birthday Dad!" He then asked if I remembered the phone call a few months before, on my birthday, when he had told me that he had a present for me but he couldn't give it to me yet. Tim then reached in his jacket, pulling out a pristine piece of paper in a clear plastic protector. "Dad this letter goes with your flag."
Certificate of Recognition
These colors were proudly flown in the face of the enemy, in continuing effort to ensure democracy for the people of Iraq and forever erase the scars of tyranny created by years of oppression by terrorist forces threatening the freedom of the United States of America and the World on August 30 in Kirkuk, Iraq.
They are now most respectfully retired and entrusted to the care of William Garvey recognizing his support for Soldiers fighting the War on Terror.
His First Sergeant and the Battery Commander had signed the certificate at the bottom.
I stood there speechless, with tears in my eyes. Now I knew why Tim had called a few months before, saying he couldn't send my present yet. It was because that flag was flying over his camp on my birthday.
The flag and certificate were the second best birthday present I had ever received — the first was the soldier who brought it safely home to me.
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