I am DHB because I am a veteran. I served my country and I did so honorably. I was a storekeeper aboard the SSN 708 Minneapolis-St. Paul. At 19 years old I left my three DAY old daughter behind to make a better life for my girlfriend, daughter and myself. I will never forget that day. Just three days earlier I was in room 103 (not totally sure of room #) at Christiana Hosptial and I was holding my first daughters mothers legs while she “pushed” for the nurses. I was there. I was comitted and I did what was right. So, at 4:15AM on May 3rd, I was picked up by my Navy recruiter.
I will never forget that morning either. It was the 2nd day my daughter’s mother and I were home from the hospital. #1 and I were 2 days into the rest of our lives. And, I walked out the front door at 4am to a sleeping mother and daughter. What is significant here is the lack of a romantic departure. I wasn’t sent off with my girlfriend waiting by the door like some diligent woman waiting for her man to come home in a movie made in Hollywood. I left in the dead of morning when no one noticed. I left, basically, to take care of my first born child. At 19 years old, I made the decision that the right thing to do was…..marry the mother of my child. So, I stuck it out. I entered the military and decided if I want a better life, well. my government will do it. As advertised.
I don’t have the time to get into it. I will just say that for the rest of my dying days I will never forget that morning. It was dark, cool and still. I opened the door, looked behind me one last time and saw my daughter just 3 days old laying with her exhausted mother sleeping.
Out the door I walked. Niave and young and only knowing that I needed a better life for my daughter and the only way to do that was through serving my country and working for my government.
This is only part of the story and only one minute reason I should be DHB. I can give more detail if you want it, but it will require a beer..