When a Daughter Enlists in the Military...

I love the photo of  Tami at the left with dandelions stuck in her helmet while she is getting ready to fire her M-16... cracks me up. That is so very much Tami's personality.

I should not have been surprised that one of our daughters would want to join the military...but I was. Our girls were raised in a very pro military family, I did not see an enlistment in anyone's future.

As a family, we love our country.  I seldom hear the song "America, America" that I don't tear up. A flag will forever fly in our front yard. We are proud of our men and women in the armed forces. What would we do without their service?  When Tommy and I  married he had already been in  the Marines for two years.  He always says I served the last two years with him. We had a great time together. I would do it all again without hesitation.

However, when Tami came home one day and said she wanted to join the National Guard, that was another story all together. First thing I thought of was, "No, you can get shot or killed! It's not safe! You will be gone a long time. I will miss you. Don't go." I kept those thoughts to myself,  for a little while,  as Tami talked about all the advantages of enlisting.

Finally, she said," Mama what should I do?"  It was by far the hardest question anyone has ever asked me. I found it difficult to give an honest answer. Millions of answers came to mind. "Do it, make those memories!!!  One day when you are old,  you will look back on your life and tell your children, " I can take apart and reassemble an M-16 in record time.  I served my country proudly." She would visit places around the world that I will never see. Always it came back to 'she could get killed'.

Finally, I told her this was one decision she had to make on her  own. We talked about the advantages of signing up and we talked about the unknown things that could go wrong. We told her we would support her either way. We talked about 'commitment' and  about the length of time she would have to serve. An eight year commitment is a long time for a 19 or 20 year old to have to plan a life around. She was in love. How would that affect their future? A whole lot of unknowns from a mother's perspective.

She enlisted making us very proud and very nervous. I remember a call from boot camp one night, I was sure her instructor would kill her when she got off the phone.  I heard the instructor yell at Tami to " Hang that damn phone up, Your time is through!!"  Tami yelled back at him, "I just got on the phone my time isn't up!!" I could just see those beautiful brown eyes snap at the man as she yelled. Then silence as he slammed the phone down. I started crying and Tommy started laughing. He said, " I told her they would try and break that Carter temper!" She was in trouble and there was nothing I could do.

That was a long night for me as I wondered what on earth was happening to her in boot camp!!

I think this photo was taken when she went to South Dakota. She also was sent to Panama and to Honduras. That makes me very proud.

Their outfit did a humanitarian rotation in Honduras to help rebuild after a hurricane went through the region causing a tremendous amount of damage. Tami's unit provided military police security for the engineers as they rebuilt roads and bridges. She called one day and I heard gunshots in the background. I asked her what was going on and she said, "There is often sporadic. shooting in the mountains. It's the rebels" Hmmmm, That girl knew how to make me pray!!

 I think this photo was taken in Honduras. She also took a photo of her bunk below...a little different from her apartment back home. Honduras changed Tami's outlook on life, at that time. She saw abject poverty. When she came home she gave away most of what she had. She had seen people live with little or nothing. She realized that as blessed as we are, we really do have more than we need. She still gives freely to people in need.

                           

My daughter Tami is one of my heroes. Tommy and I used to say, "Tell Tami no and watch her go."  She still is very much wired that way. She is strong, confident and seldom afraid. Life for her is an adventure to be lived out loud. Happy Veteran's Day Darlin'...you made us proud.                                  
                                     Love you,                       
                                            Mama