The following is a column I wrote and was printed  in the April 4 edition of The Monroe County Reporter

 

From the Halls of Montezuma

To the Shores of Tripoli;

We fight our country's battles

In the air, on land and sea;

First to fight for right and freedom

And to keep our honor clean;

We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.

 

After two years of attending the University of Georgia and excelling there, my youngest son, at age 21,  has joined the Marines. Boot camp started for him March 26, just 13 days from his initial visit to the recruiting office. My family has been on an emotional roller coaster for these 13 days that has elicited tears, pride, fear and joy from us all.

 

LETTING my son go – in the sense of Letting Go and Letting God – has been so hard. He left for boot camp with his shirt on his back and $20 in his pocket.  Everything we have ever given him he carried inside himself. If you know anything about Marine Boot camp, you know he will never be the same. He will be remade – reborn, I would even dare to say.  These next 13 weeks will be the hardest endeavor he has ever undertaken and, other than combat itself will be the hardest thing he may ever do.

 

HOW DOES a mother give her son to her country, to the marines, to war?  I don't know. I began with tears and wavered between gut wrenching sadness, fierce pride and a bravado that I no longer feel.  I spent a lot of time with my son those last few days before he left, and we had many heart to heart talks. I have always known he wanted a military career. He watched the History Channel like other kids watched sitcoms. He soaked it all in. His declared major at UGA was history but he took more geology, weather and geography classes than anything else. He never lost his Hope scholarship. But ultimately UGA felt too big and impersonal. He came home, slept a lot and was hard to get along with. I worried about him constantly.

 

Then one day he had enough of bussing tables, being poor and going nowhere. That is the day he showed up at the Recruiters office. What a find!  They were glad to get him - with his 92 score on the ASVAB, his good level of physical fitness and his eagerness to find adventure. My son will shine in the Marines. His stepfather raised him as only a Marine will raise their sons – goading him ever onward to Marine standards. He knows in this branch of the service he will learn from the best how to win in combat and what it means on the deepest levels to be committed, caring and honest.

 

I GIVE my son up, as all mothers ultimately do, to be the man he was meant to be. He is a warrior if there ever was one. Anyone who has raised one knows what I mean. And just as he is a warrior, I am an archetypical hippie, peacenik mother. The contradictions are almost too much to bear. Knowing he must be who he is and I must be who I am is all that saves me. This war in Iraq which I do not believe we should be fighting is not the fault of the men and women who fight it. They are doing their job, and they had better do it well. The responsibility for the war lies with its leaders. I will continue to write my congressmen, attend peace rallies and write to the paper about waging peace rather than war.  I will be proud of my son when he goes to fight the war I don't believe in - because I do believe in him and I do believe in our constitution which he has sworn to uphold and protect.  I believe some things are worth fighting for and I believe that he will be a better person by serving our country. And from now on my peace mongering will be tinged with a heightened awareness of what our service men, women and families are giving up for all Americans.  

 

Carole is the graphic designer for The Monroe County Reporter .