For what it's worth, I don't think I would have
married while on active duty.
Yes, I've heard the phrase, "If the army wanted me
to have a wife they would
have issued me one." That isn't what I had in mind,
rather that the
profession we chose is a highly demanding and often
dangerous one. A
profession which demands full attention to the matters
at hand. I found
myself strung between worrying about a premature daughter
and her mother and
two siblings in Memphis and business at hand while
in an A camp in the delta.
This, I'm afraid, caused me to be less than 100% in
my responsibilities to my
superiors as well as subordinates. Keep in mind the
people I was responsible
to and for who were not getting the attention called
for.
Of course, this lapse wasn't constant, nor was it permanent,
yet in
retrospect, I have to admit a failing of my own making.
The premature infant is now a beautifull woman with
children of her own
and all the worry was for naught.
I retired because my wife of the moment said
she needed a husband and our children needed a father
and I regretted it as
soon as the deed was done.
I cringe when I'm referred to as Mister Flaherty, I
want to refer the
speaker to my chevrons but alas and alack, I don't
wear them any more. You'd
think all that would have worn of after all this time.
I've been retired for
33 years and long past my prime but Like Val, I tend
to stay in touch with
old military friends and sometimes I can hear bugle
calls echoing from the
main post if I concentrate hard enough. If that doesn't
work I have a record
of bugle calls I can play. CHARGE!
Damn, I miss the army and if it wasn't for you guys
and others like you
I'd have been long gone having wasted away from ennui