Son Of a Veteran

I grew up a military kid. Every morning I would watch my Pops get ready for work. Some days he would rock his Air Force "Dress Blues" that consisted of dark blue slacks, lighter blue short sleeved shirt, and the shiniest shoes this side of heaven. On other days, my Pops would slide on his Battle Dress Uniform (BDU's) which consisted of camouflage jacket and matching pants, black undershirt, and the shiniest boots this side of heaven. Just like todays military, he was big on presentation. Shoes always shined, hair always cut, bed always made with "military corners", shirt/ pant creases sharp enough to cut your finger off if you weren't careful! Well maybe not THAT sharp... Perhaps a paper cut or something but I digress. The point of the matter is that I was always intrigued by the sharpness of his military uniform.

Being the son of an active duty soldier afforded me the opportunity to travel the world. From the Philippines, to Italy, to Turkey I saw the world the way that most people never have the chance to view it. Living in Italy, I have seen everything from the Sistine Chapel and Michaelangelo's piece of art painted on the ceiling to feeding pigeons in St. Marks Square in Venice. I have eaten REAL Italian pizza and pasta in Aviano and even enjoyed American classics like McDonalds in Milan. Try the Royal (Pronounced Roy AL) with cheese... #imjustsayin' Speaking of pizza, one of my favorite pizza joints is called "The leaning tower of Pisa" and I always think of how I have actually been to the city of Pisa in Italy. I have the seen the tower in all of its glory. I did an event at the African American Museum in Los Angeles and it was in the same parking lot as the USC Trojan "Coloseum" football stadium. I remember going to the ORIGINAL coloseum in Rome when I was younger. At the time, I had no idea how blessed I was and how cultured I was becoming.

One night, I was awakened by one of my fathers infamous forehead kisses. He told me that everything was ok and that he would see me later. I gave him a hug and he left. It wasn't until the morning when I woke up that I realized what had just happened. My Pops had just been deployed to Saudi Arabia in the middle of the night. No warning, no nothing. Just orders and a date with a C130 aircraft with no frequent flyer mile options or buddy passes. Pops was in the disaster Preparedness division of the Air Force Base. His speciality was chemical warfare and his job was to train soldiers how to effectively use gas mask to protect themselves from air born chemical agents. Since there was an immense chemical threat in the middle east during the time, Pops job was VERY VERY IMPORTANT and was among the first batch of trips to hit "the dirt" of the middle east. He served out there for about 6 months and came back in ONE PIECE THANK GOD. When he arrived back to Italy, my family and I met him at the airport to greet him. My sister and I ran up ( I was too cool to run son... lol) and gave my Pops a huge hug. The desert camouflaged hat that he had on was placed on top of my head by him and still till this day I still have it.

I don't believe that AmeriKKKa does enough for the veterans. My Pops was in the military and protected our country for 20 hard and long years. He left his family to protect the liberty of other families. My pops went "TDY" often and left his family for months at a time. He had the stresses of being a Black man in the military. WOW... When he retired, he received an award and a few other novelties. Thats it... sure he gets a few military health benefits but come on now... I feel as though the government should do much more than they do. Look on the bright side, my Pops gets to eat at Applebees for FREE today! CHEA!!! (Insert blank stare then twist lip) I must digress because I feel this message going into a military benefits bashing tirade and that is NOT the point of this blog. The purpose of this blog is to say THANK YOU to all of our Armed Forces men and women that protect our country every single day. It is a shoutout to people like my Pops who joined the military to get out of the hoods of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. This is a shoutout to the soldiers who took advantage of ROTC scholarships and got their tuition paid for in exchange for 8 years of military service. This post is for the "Weekend Warriors" also known as the Reservist who spend at least one weekend a month and sometimes longer to train active duty personnel. This is to recognize the oldschool people who served as Tuskegee Airmen and infantry troops when racism was at an all time high. This is for the people who have lost loved ones in wars and military service. I personally salute all of the soldiers that make it possible for me to sit here in this coffee shop sipping on some hot chocolate while on my macbook pro creating this blog IN PEACE. (#thelongestrunonsentenceeverinlifefollowedbythisoneiknow)

I love you and respect you with all of my heart. THANK YOU!!!



Here is a tribute video of one of my favorite frat brothers, next door neighboor, and friend. After graduation from the University of Oklahoma, he enlisted in the United States Army. He was killed in the line of duty in the middle east. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers.