A letter To A Son

[Tamaroa]

A NOTE TO A COAST GUARDSMAN'S LITTLE BOY

Dear Tyler,

This column was written on your father?s 24th birthday. On his 24th birthday, two days before his funeral.

As this is written you are a baby, an infant, just seven months old. Your mother is a new widow and the two of you are alone in the world.

As you read this you are older and you both have gone on. Life has taken you each in new and unexpected directions. Your father is a name and a photograph to you, but he is not a memory, not a memory of your own recollection.

So this is meant to tell you how it was. How it was when your father died and what people thought about it and what people thought about him.

The last part is easy.

They thought he was a hero.

They thought he died for his country, in the service of his nation and flag, on a mission to protect America?s borders and patrol her waters.

His last act was one of bravery and compassion.

Bravery in that he and his shipmates were on patrol, set out in the dark to enforce the laws of the land. And compassion in that the four of them put into the mighty Niagara to be ready to help those in trouble.

He died in the service of his country and in the service of his fellow man.

And you should be as proud of him as his country was.

And do not doubt that at the time of his passing he and the other fallen Coast Guardsman were the center of the country?s attention, pride and gratitude.

The day after your father and his friend died, national radio broadcasts began with the story of their overturned boat, the long night in the icy waters and the miraculous survival of their two shipmates.

The accident which claimed your father?s life made the network television news and a nation responded with grief. People felt for your dad and your mom and for you. Your dad and your family were in the nation?s thoughts and prayers.

The president of the United States himself stopped at the beginning of a speech to bow his head in silence and remember your father.

Your father was a great man.

Not for how he died, but for how he lived. Because he lived decently, and he lived right. In his short life he impressed people, and served them, and made something of himself.

He went to college and he went to the Coast Guard and through his own hard work he earned the right to wear the uniform of his country. And he earned the right to have draped across his casket two days after his 24th birthday the flag of the United States of America.

Your dad didn?t live long, but he lived well. And he made his mark.

He married your lovely mother and the two of them brought you into the world. And you survive him and carry on his name, and hopefully you feel the call to carry on his goodness and decency.

Your dad was a man. A good man.

And you should be one as well. You should remember his example of service and sacrifice and courage. You should remember that you have been in the prayers of the nation, that your father?s friends and strangers from across America have worried for you and hoped for you.

So take strength and courage from him and them.

And maintain a connection to him. Always treasure his name and legacy in your thoughts and dreams. Listen for him and his influence in your conscience and impulse, expect him to be a part of your life.

And know that if nowhere else you will have communion with him when you yourself are a young father, and you hold his grandchild in your arms. You may be assured that as you look down at your own baby, the love you feel, the wonder and the gratitude and joy, will be an exact mirror of what he felt as he held you.

That is another thing you should know.

That he loved you. He loved you with all his heart. He was living the American dream and you and your mother were the crowning jewels.

The Coast Guard gave him a purpose and a paycheck and a way to provide for you. And he took up his duty cheerfully. The duty to country and the duty to family.

Your father was a hero.

And so are you.

Because you have sacrificed for your country as well. He lost his life, you lost your father. He paid in the night in a cold winter river. You paid over years of growing up without a dad.

You have known your nights of suffering and borne your burdens, and it has all been in the name of duty.

And your country is grateful. Grateful for your sacrifice when you were a little baby, and grateful for your sacrifice all the years since.

Your father served under a motto: Semper paratus. Always ready.

You may want to take a motto for yourself: Semper recordor. Always remember.

Always remember, young Tyler, that your daddy was a hero, that he loved you, and that he died for his country. And that he all these years has missed you as much as you have missed him.

Thank you, and God bless you.

Signed,

America



- by Bob Lonsberry ? 2001 ? Reprinted with permission.

[BLUEHAWK]

Semper recordor, yes...

Thank you Bill