Father Soldier Son

As commander in chief, I have determined

that it is in our vital national interest

to send an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan.

We have been at war now for eight years

at enormous cost in lives and resources.

- -

This decision asks even more of you.

A military that, along with your families,

has already borne the heaviest of all burdens.

- Joey, come on! -

It's already filled.

- -

These are pictures of my dad's places in Afghanistan.

This is the first base that he was at.

I think he said that was his tent right there.

Um, there's him saluting one of his high-ranking officers.

There's his truck right there.

There, that's my dad, me and Joey.

I know, but Uncle Shawn, it moves side to side.

I can't really write like that.

My name is Joey... and I'm seven-and-a-half years old.

My brother is...

twelve-and-a-half, I think.

-Cheetahs, I can learn about cheetahs. -That's a good one. It's an animal.

My dad's in Afghanistan trying to make this country how it is.

Uncle Shawn, you know I'm not gonna eat it.

He said if he's not doing this right now,

then we'll have bullets flying over our heads at night.

My uncle said he'd take both of us for 14 months.

It was kind of hard to move 'cause I had to get all new friends.

These guys are gonna come with us and then we'll meet you at the airport.

And then...

Uh, Isaac's right here, he's working on some stuff.

Isaac, it's your dad.

He's in Atlanta.

Hey, Dad.

Good.

Yeah.

My dad's coming back for two weeks for a vacation.

When he walks through the gate, I'm gonna get up and sprint to him.

Joey, there's Dad's plane. There's Dad's plane right there. See it?

Yes!

I'm gonna see

if I can see my dad through the window. I know.

Look and see if you see him through the window.

I'm gonna see if-- I'm just gonna wave in case he sees me.

Dad's coming off first. All right, come on!

Hold it up! Look cheerful.

Come on, Mr. Soldier Man.

-Is that him? -No, he's not that buff.

My dad's... Yeah, my dad's not that buff.

-He's here. -Can you hang on to this?

Yep, go.

- -

I love you, guys. Hey.

- -

Hey.

- -

I love you, guys. Are you happy to see me?

-Huh? - Yeah.

- - What's that?

-I'm happy. - Good job.

- -

You look the same, Dad.

Well, I hope so.

-Oh, wow. Dad? -I've only been gone six months.

I feel blocks.

Yeah, I've been working out!

-I feel blocks. - I feel blocks, too.

I feel blocks, too.

Love you.

- -

- I love you, Dad. -I missed you.

-I missed you, too. -

I'm glad to be home. And I'm sorry if I smell, okay?

It's fine. You smell like a regular military guy.

Just like I learned. Just like I like.

-Just how I like it. -A regular military guy?

Hi, guys.

- Hi. Welcome home. - Hey, Uncle Ray!

You guys all right?

Yep. I'm singing my favorite song.

Joe Joe.

Joey.

Yeah?

Isaac, I think your braces look good.

What?

I think your braces look good.

Thank you.

I officially have butcher teeth!

You ever do anything to wreck those, you're in big trouble.

I won't.

When my dad was at Afghanistan,

I felt like I had, like, a 25-pound weight on my shoulders.

And then when my dad came back, it was like...

gone.

Hey, did you guys spray yet?

It's a lot easier being a platoon sergeant

than it is raising two boys by yourself.

When I got divorced, their mother chose other paths

and the court said,

"You're not gonna have custody of your kids."

So I've been doing it, you know, by myself.

She hasn't seen them in almost two and a half years.

I had a bite, though, he took half of it. Yeah. See?

Look at this.

He's not very big.

I question myself every day if I'm doing the right thing for my kids.

You know, I'm trying to do my duty to my country and deploy,

you know, and do what Uncle Sam asks me to do,

but you know, what's everybody asking my boys to do?

The Army is really great and I really like that he's in it,

but it's just hard thinking like,

"Please, just, like, bring him back safe and..."

Just worrying about him.

And when I grow up, I don't know if I want to follow in his footsteps.

Bye, Dad.

- Six months, okay? - Okay.

Once I'm back

we're gonna have all kinds of fun, alright?

- You gotta do it. - Okay.

As soon as I get on that plane,

the sooner you're gonna stop crying, right?

- Really? - Come on. Be tough.

Hey, you know why Dad's doing this, okay?

- I gotta go. I'm gonna miss you. - Love you, Dad.

You guys go with Grandma and Grandpa, okay?

- Love you guys. -

Keep your chin up.

Love you, Dad.

My dad wanted one of his kids in the military

and I was the last one so it was kind of me by default.

- -

I'm very glad I deployed

'cause I'm part of something bigger than myself.

You know what my biggest fear is?

Isaac says he's got a buddy at school, that his dad went to Iraq and he changed.

I don't want to be that dad.

I wanna be the same fun dad, you know, that--

We don't get half our security deposit back

because we shot all the Airsoft rounds in the house

'cause we had Airsoft fights inside the house

or too many water fights and it got on the walls.

That's the dad I want to be. I want to come home and have fun

and not, you know, scream and yell at my kids. So, yeah.

I think I saw one just flying behind that tree over there.

Sometimes I try to think about different things.

'Cause if I think about my dad, like...

it's hard to...

I'm sorry.

It's like hard to

kind of, like, hard to stay strong.

Oh, I think I got it!

Put the safety back on.

Yes!

My dad is, like, the only one that I, like...

practically love the most right now.

He said that he'll be all right and don't worry about him.

"Just worry about you."

I worry about my dad at night.

Because it's, like, dark and they can sneak.

And then they can go...

I miss the boys, and I know they're thinking about me.

Isaac says it on the phone when I call him.

"Dad, I saw the moon, same moon you saw nine hours before me"

and, you know, cheesy stuff like that. But, yeah, I miss him.

- -

All I remember is snap, snap, burn, chainsaw.

It might be a little tender.