"I love The United States of America. When I was in college it scared me to death to think about being drafted and sent to Viet Nam. I had found the faith of my Great-Great Grandparents, and I did not yet understand the power of this faith to reconcile life and death, and the power of the message of the resurrection. I was afraid of dieing.
Almost 40 years later I can still sense concern when it comes to the possibility of death visiting me or Andrea or one of you 10 kids, your spouses, or children. It was really hard when Grandpa Hafen died (21 May 1963). I didn't want to go to the funeral. The reason I did go was because of Grandma Nelson's words to me and her faith. I was in 7th grade when this happened. When Grandma Nelson died 2 years later (11 March 1965, 9th grade) I accepted it as a natural part of life. I remember Big Roice (Roice Krueger) breaking down and crying when we were pall bearers for Grandma Nelson. I didn't cry, because I was still comforted by her words to me when Grandpa Hafen died. Also I had spent 2 years working in Nelson Meat Packing Plant, and had lived with death of animals. However, I had peace when my father died, when Grandma Hafen died, and when Mom died. I've had numerous close calls with death over the years, including horse wrecks, car wrecks, and almost plane wrecks. And so death is not the same factor it was when I was possibly going to be drafted in the US military.
To have a son seek out and volunteer to be active in the United States military is a long way from where I was when I was 19 years old. So this week was a big week for me. Matt had his Basic Training Graduation at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. Andrea and I flew to Columbia, South Carolina on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday was parents day, Friday was Basic Training Graduation, and Saturday was taking Matt to his AIT (Advanced Individual Training) at Ft. Gordon, near Agusta, Georgia.
I was super impressed with how much Matt grew up during his 12 weeks of Basic Training. It made me wonder if I made the correct choice in being glad I got a high lottery number allowing me to stay out of the Viet Nam draft, and not having any desire to enlist. It also made me wonder if I was too lax in raising you kids, and to wonder if I should have been stronger about important things, specifically missions, temple marriages, baby blessings, etc. And I would not like to have been directed to make the right choices, so I have strived to allow free agency to flourish in our family. And whenever there is free agency, there are consequences accompanying the choices made. These thoughts remind me of a scripture in the Doctrine & Covenants (58:26-28):
I think the photos we took on this trip tell the whole story of Matt's graduation quite well. The 125 thumbnails are at http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Family/10_Matt/060323_Ft.Jackson/thumbnails_Ft.Jackson.jpg and the photos tied to the thumbnail's are in the same directory (../060323_Ft.Jackson).
Using three days of vacation this week, made it seem like a very short week. On Monday there was a meeting at the office with the Payroll Administrator, where we went over the new benefits plan. Tuesday I bought the tickets to Beijing for me, Andrea, Joshua, and Audrey (0616.html). Riley Skeen and I had a long catch-up conversation. His daughter Cassie comes home from her mission to Italy on the 26th of October, so we will not be going to Italy with the Skeen's, as has been discussed this last year. Riley said he would attempt to get Cassie's cell phone number, and we could at least call her when we were in Italy, which we did (0624.html).
Wednesday morning Andrea taught seminary. We left for the airport about noon and flew to Cincinnati at 2:36 PM. From there we flew to Columbia, South Carolina and arrived at 9:23 PM. Our hotel was a real dump. I was able to get us changed from a smoking room to a non-smoking room, which was good.
Thursday was Parent's Day. We intended to be early, got lost, and were late. Oh well! It was good to see Matt, and he looked great. We spent the day driving around the Base, it is quite large, and having Matt point out sites of interest to us. We went to the Base mall, and met some of Matt's friends. They seemed like nice young men and young women.
Friday was the graduation ceremony. I was impressed. Most of the other parents at graduation were not like the geophysicists and church members I typically interact with. That was a bit of an experience for me. We bought a photo of Matt in his dress uniform. We went to the Base Souvenir Shop and Matt bought T-Shirts for his sisters, and Andrea and I each bought a "MY SON IS DEFENDING FREEDOM IN THE US ARMY" T-Shirt. Then Matt checked out of his barracks, put all of his stuff in the trunk, and we stayed one more night at the motel.
Saturday morning we got up and drove to Atlanta, Georgia. Here we met Andrea's missionary companion, Sharon Shay, and her husband, John, for lunch. Matt and Andrea were shopping at a Mall. I was reading and sleeping in the car. Then Matt rode with me and Andrea rode with Sharon and . Matt and I missed the restaurant, and they had to guide us back via cell phones. What did we ever do without cell phones? Then we took Matt to Ft. Gordon, checked him in to his AIT (Advanced Individual Training), and said a tearful goodbye. It was a long drive back to Columbia, South Carolina, and we had to wait several hours for the plane. It was quite late when we got back home.
Sunday morning, when catching up on reading the papers, it was interesting to read the following article published in the Houston Chronicle on the same day as Matt's Basic Training Graduation:
Who knows where the road will lead from Matt's Basic Training Graduation."
