Happy Birthday USMC

Happy Birthday United States Marine Corps from a Marine Mom who loves you all and will always be proud of your excellence in courage, strength, honor and in the way you have preserved our freedom and maintained our liberty for 246 years. I have many titles, but one title I am most proud of is “Marine Mom”! I loved and supported my USMarine and his unit for many, many years, through numerous deployments to Iraq, and Afghanistan, until his last battle injury caused a medical retirement. He fought for his country overseas for many deployments, valiantly and with great honor, courage, wisdom and strength. I could not be prouder of him and all of our United States Marines. My Marine Mom’s heart will forever be connected with the US Marines, in prayer, hope and encouragement, as there is a piece of my heart they will always have. Of all my memories, the ones that are so vivid are the times we family members said goodbye on the tarmac, not knowing if it was our last goodbye, if they would return from war. I looked around and saw children hugging dads and mom’s saying goodbye, family members crying and it was always heartbreaking for me. Then the flipside was the waiting for them to return, waiting on the tarmac with all the families, sometimes we waited for hours, once from 10am in the morning till 1am the next morning, but we all waited with joy knowing our soldier had come home and when the buses came and the soldiers came off, it was a sea of humanity, everyone looking for their soldier. I will never forget that. The one memory that is so vivid and unforgettable is when I waited for my soldier to come home on the medical transport and I watched them unload soldier after soldier on medial cots and wheel chairs, waiting for a glimpse of my wounded soldier while being overcome with emotion for everyone else too, knowing that all of our lives had changed forever and a season of recovery was upon us. My heart goes out to all the military family members who know the experience of watching the buses load up and drive off taking soldiers to war, and the sight of all the family members not moving until the buses were completely out of sight. I can’t tell you what that felt like, knowing that many of them, even your own soldier, may not be back. After the buses were completely out of sight, I put my hand on my cheek where my son had kissed me and remembered his voice: I love you mom, he said. Then I wept, saying a prayer to the only one who could comfort me, our God, Who held his future. I remember all the times we watched the news and we heard of the battles and then there were the times when news came in about our unit with our losses and the pain of the consequences of war realized. The letters from our soldiers came once in a while, and it was like receiving gold in the mail, the whole family sitting around and listening as we read them, and the short phone calls at 2am our time, which were impossible to hear them, yet we relished because we had another day to say a short “I love you”, and encouraging them the best we could. I will never forget getting the dreaded call that my soldier was wounded… alive but broken in heart, body and spirit. Oh… the heart of a Marine Mom, it grows strong through the many ups and downs of military life, and it is bowed many, many times in anguished prayer and stretched faith, yet thankfully was always undergirded by the mighty right hand of God. There is a special place in my heart for military families. God bless them. Dig Deeper: https://thebridegroomscafe.com/liberty/