Twinkle, twinkle, 2 blue stars…
We have a mutant gene in our family. I am sure of it. The mutant-military gene. It was late last Summer when I wrote this about my youngest son and his experience being in a JROTC program:
It all started yesterday. Nate came to me last night before bed.
He wanted to learn to iron a dress shirt and make good creases.I knew this day was coming.
He also needed me to take him out earlier that day
and buy him a shoe shining kit.Yep. He’s got it bad.
The real indicator for me was when he told me
his high and tight was not high or tight enough.Yes, you guessed it.
My youngest son has the military gene!
He does indeed have the gene, and he has decided to sign up for the military on a delayed entry program. He is signed on with the Army and has been branched Field Artillery. Field Artillery is the same branch Bryan had, and of course it is complimentary to Infantry which is Mike’s branch. Our family tree has more branches than people! I am sure there is a “You know you are living in Tennessee when…” joke in that statement somewhere!
I really wanted Nate to go to college first, but after long talks and much consideration I am convinced that he is not ready. He’s smart. He’s a good kid. He is not interested in college in the least. To prove it to me he has passively sabotaged all college entrance milestones that we had marked. Tests, applications, connections, choices, etc. None of it’s done and he seems to instantly fall into a teenage-coma when I speak of such things. He really seemed disconnected until…
Last week he went to MEPS (that’s the Military Entrance Processing Station for those of you who do not speak military-ease). When he came home he was alive. He was animated. He was excited. He had a sparkle in his eyes that I never saw when we talked about college. He was taken, smitten, bitten and in love. He was not talking about the money (a.k.a. bonuses), he was not talking about promises made to him or not, no he was talking Paladins and Howitzers. He was talking about blowing crap up. He was talking about being part of a heritage and mostly he felt like he had just made a decision he had been thinking about, pondering, harboring, and wondering about for a very long time. He was not relieved… he was alive.
When asked why he picked Field Artillery his dad was hoping to hear “Because that was your branch!” Instead we heard “I’m too tall to be in a tank. I hate math and didn’t want to be an Engineer, and so I figured field artillery would be my best bet to get to blow crap up!” He glowed when he said it. Originally he wanted to be a pilot, but then he realized he only wanted to do that so he could blow crap up from a really high place. This kid has always been interested in pyrotechnics and explosives. Fortunately he has been raised to respect the law, and so his exposure to such things has been limited… just enough to wet his whistle.
He knows it’s not going to be glitz and glam. His older brother is none to pleased with him right now, but loves him none the less for sure. He also wanted Nate to go to college first. Nate is in for some surprises — the good, the bad and the ugly. We have raised him well. He has a good family that loves him very much. With that, prayer and a lot of providence, we will get through the next several years of military life, deployments, and redeployments. He promises he will go to college when he gets out of the military. We’ll see where we are in a decade.
You’ve heard the saying “It’s our lot in life! It’s not a lot, but it’s our life!” Hooah!
HOO-frickin-AAAH! as my friend MG always says!
Prayers - and love - for you all…..
Oh Claire, this is so very familiar. I do think this is a mutant military gene pool thing. No other explanation. I know that look, I know the yearning to “blow stuff up” and boy I bet his older brother is a wee bit miffed.
Hugs Claire, in some ways we knew this was coming so I know you are ok with it .
I had to laugh. Buddy Lee, who is about to be 8, has that look already when he talks about joining the Army. He wants to go blow stuff up.
I had to laugh. Buddy Lee, who is about to be 8, has that look already when he talks about joining the Army. He wants to go blow stuff up.
Congratulations to him! But at 6′4″…I had no problem being in the Armor fields, I’m just saying, if he really wanted to blow crap up he could have gone 19D.
I started razing him about only the dumb recruits becoming gun bunnies. How smart do you have to be to carry a load? He said,” Aw come on. There’s more to it than that. I have to learn to pull the little string too ya know.”
I think he’ll be fine.
I remember how proud my son Adam was returning from boot camp with the ‘expert’ tag attached to his marksman medal –for hand grenade as well as rifle.
Before 911, Adam joined the National Guard as a recruit, E1, and five years later received a commission as 2nd LT in the Green to Gold program. The Army paid for all his education at a prestigious Ivy League Uni that we couldn’t possibly afford, and his post graduate degree as well.
Having attended both enlisted basic at Fort Jackson and officer boot camp at Fort Lewis, he says he had the best time at Fort Jack, learning “how to blow stuff up and make noise”.
He also told us that the grenade suffix made “a lot of liberals nervous” when he’d attend class in his Class A’s. He’d tell them he was a qualified expert bomb tosser.
Hooah to y’all great folks out there on this site. I do believe it is the ‘warrior gene’ that is ingrained in us all.
(It’s certainly not the ‘hippy’ gene.)
And congratulations on another fine military man in your family.
I salute you all.
Al C.
Wow Claire!!!! I understand your feelings but must say I am also so happy for you all and sweet Nate!!! Who will Emma use for her scapegoat now though? =) Seriously, tell Nate we said congrats!
Keep the good news coming!!!
I really am fine with it. I do see the military as a perfectly fine career choice. I just wish it didn’t have to be scary at times. It’s just the nature of the work. I am very proud of his decision, and glad that he is wise enough to know that he is not ready yet for college. I will be a military mom extraordinare by the end of all of this! Reasa, it starts young! :)
David, I have a friend whose husband is 6′3″ and he is an officer branched Armor. I am not sure why Nate felt he would be too tall — other than the fact that he is 6′1″ now and anticipating growing some more? I’ll have to tell him to keep his mind open to it.
Al, the Warrior Gene?! I love it! Yep, that’s us! It’s no wonder that military folks always feel like a part of your family even if you’ve never met.
Kristen, I do worry about Emma when he leaves. She loves her Nate so much… it will be a big loss for such a little girl. I guess we will have to get a cat for her blame things on though!
I am heading to your blog right now to hear your good news… I can’t wait to announce that Cliff has graduated! I just can’t believe you all are almost on the other side of this! WOOHOO!!
Claire,
I know how hard it is to allow them to make their decisions, when we wanted so much more for them. But I think Nate knows enough of the Army to understand just what he is going to be doing. So now, we will just have to pray that much more.
But I do wonder, did Nate also get the blogging gene?? If not, you best be getting busy teaching him all you, Mr.Hooah! and Mike know! We will want to be there with him as he takes his steps into Army life.
Love and Hugs to the Tennessee Family Hooah!’s
from Ky Woman Hooah!