Well I've made it to my next duty station and, well haven't really settled into my new job. My last days at Riley were spent getting ready to move here. Though the day before I left I was honored to be able to escort Sgt. Joel Murray's family around the post for the change of command ceremony, and the dedication of Victory Park. It was quite the honor spending time with his father who I had heard so much about. Joel had to go on emergency leave when we were in Iraq because his father had slipped into a coma after an ATV accident. When Joel came back he had told us of his efforts to get his father to wake up and it had worked. It felt good to spend time with Mr. Murray because his son, and him share the same sense of humor and mannerisms (Murrayism's) and in some ways it felt like he was right there with us. I finally got a chance to chat with his wife and we finally talked more than we had ever before, she honored the Company with a large banner of the picture of the crew that was in 2-1. I was just sad to have to leave without being able to spend more time with her and her son, who is by the way a spitting image of his father.
The whole platoon came down to the dedication of Victory park, where they honored Medal of Honor recipient Spc. Ross McGinnis and all of the Big Red One Soldier's who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the war on terror. We paid our respects to our dear brothers stones laid out among the rest of their military family.
It was also where I would say my final goodbyes and move on which is such the life of a Soldier. A lot of my men looking forward to getting out and some of them preparing to go to their next duty stations. 4th Brigade was different from any other unit that I had been in for the fact that all my Soldier's were brand new fresh out of basic training when I first got them. We had lived a life time together in just 15 months. We know everything about one another. They had truly grown to be my family. I wish all of them the best of luck in future endeavor's and hopefully will see them again somewhere in the Army. It was really an honor to get to serve with them as they are all heroes and always rose to the occasion and never backed down when it got to bad. I really couldn't have been luckier to be left in charge of America's finest.
I can't help but tell you how much deployed life is so much simpler than real life. I thought I would be able to adjust to TRADOC but I miss leading Soldier's that I know will walk with me into harm's way. I'll give it some time maybe it will grow on but right now..... I don't like it. I thought I would have more time to spend with my family but right now that is just not the case.
For now though-
DEUCE DEUCE OUT!!!
3 comments:
Good to hear from you once again, Tristan. Sounds as though you've been pretty busy. Really nice that you got to spend time with Joel's family. I'm sure that meant a lot to them, and provided them perhaps a bit of closure in dealing with the loss of their son, husband and father. I can understand how much your time spent with Joel's family must have meant to you. I suspect Joel was smiling down from heaven as you did the honors. What a great friend Joel has in you. While I've been told there is no high like the battlefield high, I hope, in time, your new duties will provide you a challenge and some measure of satisfaction. I'm glad you're home, and I'm sure your family is, too. Just know, you've done everyone proud...your family, your soldiers and their families, as well as your supporters across our great nation. God bless you. Stay well, stay busy, be happy, and stay in touch here as you can...we so enjoy hearing from you.
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 08/18/2008 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
What is TRA-DOC for us unschooled folks? Auntie J.
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