Military Officer - October 2007 - (Page 84)

encore Welcome Home! Deployments are not easy, but with a homecoming countdown, they can be more bearable. These children are all smiles when they see how sweet life can be when their daddy comes home. D uring World War II, my husband, Jim, served on the battleship USS North Carolina. As a junior ofﬁcer, he had to sit on the backside of the screen when evening movies were shown in the wardroom. He said that caused him to think for several years that all movie actors were left-handed. After the war, Jim was assigned to destroyer duty. He enjoyed the camaraderie among members of the much smaller number of crew and staff and became a destroyer man for several tours of duty. Unfortunately, Jim joined his ﬁrst destroyer, USS Benner, just days before it deployed for WestPac in 1948. Mail was slow and erratic — there was no e-mail in those days. Phone calls from the few ports they visited were terribly expensive and even more difﬁcult to arrange. I did get one phone call during that deployment, patched through a ham radio operator. Jim moved to the East Coast and served on the USS Brownson. Later he went back to California and was executive ofﬁcer of the USS Agerholm. As destroyers did in those days, it soon deployed for the Western Paciﬁc. When the ship started home from that tour, our four children and I made a long chain of paper loops (one for each day until the ship was due back), and every night at bedtime we took one loop away. The children and I stretched our pennies carefully at the commissary so we could have steak and “all the ice cream Daddy could eat” when Jim came home. 84 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2007 The great day ﬁnally arrived. My present was my husband. The children’s presents were numerous and generous — a folding bicycle for the oldest, two dolls each for the daughters, and all sorts of games and puzzles for the youngest. They were appreciative of — though not as enthusiastic about — the Chinese pajamas, the tabi slippers, and wooden clogs. Here was Santa Claus in the form of their daddy. Soon after the ship got home, Jim proudly invited the whole family on board for dinner. The children, under threat of vile punishment, behaved properly, used their big, Navy napkins, and said “Yes, sir” to everyone. Our youngest son’s eyes goggled when he saw one of the ensigns eat two steaks. We all reveled in having cake and ice cream for dessert. On our way home that evening, the children were quiet, absorbing the day and the sights they’d seen on “Daddy’s ship.” Rob, our youngest son, then leaned over the car seat and asked earnestly, “Mommy, why is Daddy so rich and we’re so poor?” MO — Kathryn Mason is the spouse of Air Force Capt. James M. Mason, who passed away 10 years ago. She resides in Virginia Beach, Va. Tell Your Story ■ Share your servicerelated adventures (or mishaps) by e-mail to encore@moaa.org, or mail them to Encore Editor, 201 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314. All submissions will be considered for publication. ILLUSTRATION: ELWOOD SMITH

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - October 2007

Military Officer - October 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: A Hero's Welcome? Partners in Patriotism Tales from Beyond the Battlefield Financial Results of MOAA Pages of History Information Exchange Faces of MOAA Member Books MOAA Scholarship Donors Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - October 2007

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