Today’s guest blogger is Barbara Latta.
Our son’s first deployment after joining the army was to South Korea. At the airport, we walked to the departure gate with him. (This was before the stringent security measures we have today.) When boarding time was called, a lump formed in my throat and tears flooded my eyes. We watched him walk down the skyway, and when his backpack disappeared, I wondered how long it would be before I saw him again.
Our eyes followed every inch of tarmac the jet taxied on. When the engines roared and the plane finally disappeared into a tiny dot in the sky, I knew my firstborn would be half a world away. I was praying Psalm 91 all the time, but the mom in me still had the strings attached and my mind struggled to let go.
Now years later he has a family of his own, and his army commitments are finished. But that military legacy is still a part of who he is. It will always be there. His younger brother served in the air force and my husband is a veteran of the navy. Through the years I have waved good-bye to all of them. Once that heritage is embedded in your soul you look at your country differently. A government’s birth pains and growth process are viewed through eyes of sacrifice that are not always understood by those who don’t have service members in their families.
The military heritage of our country dates back to the Revolutionary War. Those offerings from soldiers laid the foundation America is built upon. I am proud of the men in my family for joining the thousands over the centuries who have paved the way for the United States to remain a liberated and sovereign nation.
Independence is costly for some and free for others. America’s military heritage will continue as more young men and women join the forces to protect our freedom. I salute you all.
Barbara Latta is the wife of a navy veteran and the mother of two sons who are army and air force veterans. Her military life inspired her blog, “Navigating Life’s Curves,” which can be found at www.barbaralatta.blogspot.com.
