Becoming a military dad

Slowly, but surely, I feel a change coming over me in how I think about the military and my own evolving role as the parent of a new Army enlistee.

If I think back to the mid-70s, I was no different than the majority of my peers at college. I wore my hair long and protested against the Vietnam War at the same time I tried to avoid being drafted. I got a student deferment, then a high lottery number (288), so I never served.

Years later, when I was in Washington, D.C., on business, I visited the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial and like so many others, was shaken to my core upon seeing the 58,195 names on The Wall. I knew no one who died in that conflict, but still...it still registers as probably the most humbling experience on my life, imagining those soldiers and their families and what they lost.

More recently, I've felt myself emotionally insulated from U.S. invasions of Grenada (what a joke) and Iraq (especially the first time, recalling the unreal experience of seeing a virtual war on CNN). I felt powerless watching GWB send our troops into Iraq and Afghanistan, believing we were fighting the wrong war for the wrong reasons.

But now that Jordan has followed up on his strongest desire -- to serve his country and be part of a team -- I find myself drawn inexorably to pay more attention to issues like body armor and equipment, veterans benefits and other support services, troop deployments and more. From a starting point of near total ignorance, I've begun to acquire a new vocabulary in hopes of discerning the difference between a squad and a company, a battalion and a brigade. I've begun to pay attention to where our domestic military bases are located and what specialized training is offered at each one.

Before Jordan shipped to Fort Benning, Georgia, the only reference I had for it was knowing that is where the notorious Lt. William Calley of My Lai fame received his training. Now, I know it's a big, sprawling base on the Alabama-Georgia border. Now, I have plans to attend Jordan's graduation is basic military training on July 3.

All this is a prelude to two things:

1) Expressing my gratitude (again) to the cast and crew of "Telling Portland." See the post below.
2) Expressing my gratitude to Jim Weisenburg, a dad from suburban Portland who wrote a poignant op-ed piece for The Oregonian on the roller coaster of fear that he rides in anticipation of another son deploying to Iraq. His first son was killed over there. His second son is going back for a second stint with the Oregon National Guard.

It was my privilege to edit Jim's piece and to ask him for photos of his sons, David (deceased) and Jason, to go along with his own. In a brief conversation with him Thursday afternoon, he came across as a decent, honorable man whose objective in writing the piece was to honor the 2,700 Oregon Guard troops who'll be sent to Iraq this summer and recognize the emotional impact on their families, friends and co-workers.

Only a person without a heart could read Jim's piece without being touched. As a new military dad, it resonated deeply with me -- and it left me with nothing but admiration for a man who's lost his son at war but who is there again for his other son.

May God bless Jim and the brave men and women who serve our country, no matter their politics, no matter their station in life.