Last Updated on August 15, 2023
I heard someone say today that her soldier is graduating from training tomorrow, so he will have Valentine’s Day weekend free with her.
For whatever lucky reason, my husband seemed always to have big things happen on holidays.
He graduated from OSUT at Ft Benning on February 13th, which meant we could spend Valentine’s Day together. I didn’t care so much about the holiday then (or still now!), just that we were getting to see each other.
He graduated from RIP (Ranger Indoctrination Program) on April 1st. I thought up until the time that he donned his tan beret that it was going to end up as a huge April Fool’s Day joke!
For his first deployment, he returned home on the 4th of July! That one was pretty neat as the night before, I was with some girlfriends watching fireworks on the beach when we saw the first of their planes flying over to return home!
On the third deployment, he returned on New Year’s Day. I later found out he was supposed to be home on New Year’s Eve but the plane’s wings froze on the tarmac in Afghanistan, so he was delayed.
It was still a great way to start the new year.
It’s weird how it has worked out with holidays while he served. We certainly missed our share but also learned that holidays are truly celebrated when we are together, regardless of the date on the calendar.
And now that he is out of the military, we often mention whatever significant Army event coincided with the holiday on these holidays as we’re celebrating. It is a nice way to be able to reminisce about the “good ol’ days.”