<p>^^^^^</p>
<p>Stop it, you’re making me blush!</p>
<p>But seriously, I hate to say that I do need to correct you somewhat. First off, I’m just the WSO, the “guy-in-back”. However, I do feel that I get extra bravery points for this, as the guys I’m flying with nowadays seem waaay too young to me (I feel like I need to card a few of them when I see them drinking a beer in the squadron bar), and my life is in their all-too-young hands. I do get the satisfaction of reminding them as we crew brief to fly that if they crash us, I get to live a few milliseconds longer as I’m four feet farther than them from the impact point.</p>
<p>Second, all of us who proudly serve this country do not need to wear any special superhero costume. We wear one everyday; it’s called our service uniform. And unlike the other superheroes who wear their spandex badges in the center of their chest, ours are made of cloth, and are worn on our right upper arm. It’s called Old Glory, and it makes us all so proud to display it. </p>
<p>Lastly, I’ll tell you who my real superhero is. It’s my DW, and the love of my life, Pima. She has stood bravely by my side all these years, never complaining and with a smile on her face when I tell her it’s time to move for the fourth time in 5 years, or when her country is asking her yet again to raise 3 kids on her own while I am sent away to some gosh-awful place, wondering if this is the time I may not make it back.<br>
Our spouses put up with fears that would make any other person crumple to the floor. I have seen Pima, 9 months pregnant with our first child, stand and watch as my buddy Cliff’s wife, with a new born baby in one arm and a tri-folded American flag in the other, bravely tried to keep it together as Taps was playing and a missing man formation screamed overhead in honor of her deceased husband. All the time, I knew she had to be thinking, “Will that be me someday? How will I be able to tell our kids that daddy will not be home again?” </p>
<p>No, Pima has the inner strength that puts the armor on our toughest Battleships to shame. She has let me live my silly boy-hood dreams, always with a hug and a kiss at the end of the day, a day that once again in the back of her mind she had to worry that “this day might be the one”. God, how I love her for it. She’s the better person, and puts me to shame…</p>
<p>A word to all you parents of current and future cadets. A day will come, sooner than you think, when your darling child will be at thier own wedding. Do me a favor. You take your new in-law child, and you hug them with all your strength and thank them and tell them you love them and will always be there for them. And if I ever hear of the day when you didn’t treat them with the love and respect they deserve, you will feel my righteous wrath. TREAT THEM LIKE THE GOLD THEY ARE. The earn it everyday.</p>
<p>BTW, I have to say this now. (please excuse me for getting “mushy”),
Pima, Happy Valentine’s day!, you make my day, and every day, special. and thanks for always being there! Bullet</p>