When my son/daughter first spoke about joining the service I…

[Navy for Moms Admin]

Story Time anyone?
I know when you first join N4M’s one of our standard Q’s is: When my son/daughter first spoke about joining the service I…

And then usually there are the standard answers like:
Was concerned or afraid, Was confused, Needed to learn more about it, Was proud, Was relieved, Encouraged him/her, Said “No way!”

But I'm starting this thread- because I wanted to hear the stories and memories behind these standard answers! Things like: How did they bring it up to you? What was the reasoning? I see your responses to this question and I think things like "I wonder why they were confused. Or if they said “no way” how did still end up joining?" Heh. Plus, I think every mom on here has an interesting story to tell.
So (pretty please) take us back to that moment…

[justpicky03]

Hello to all , This is my first time , joining this forum ,
so much to read . Hear goes my story .

July 15, 2008 , my son came to my husband and I ,
informing us that he wanted to join the navy . I didn't
have alot to say , I just sit there and listen . Now hubby
he was very happy for son , because hubby been in the
navy years ago .

So we listen to what he wanted to do with his life .
He wanted to join the Navy , he's been thinking of
this for a year prior . My husband and son left
and went to the recuriters and signed up , but they
talk to the recuiter for hours . It took a while before
it was completed , why because the recuirter lost
son's paper work , son had to do it over again ,
this time took him 5 hours . That was in july he started
and this is Oct 13, 2008 , yes you read this correctly.
Finally , son is leaving Feb 5, 2009 .

Here is another part of this story , So when son and husband
was talking about it for days , daughter , gotten into the talk
and she decieded she wanted to join the military too , well she said
I'll go and get my information from the Navy and Airforce , both .
So she did , her final decision was ....Airforce , while son was having
his part done , daughter already started , and completed everything
and her date to leave is Dec 16, 08 , she knew when she was leaving
before son did , that shows you how slow the recuiters in the navy was.
Believe me , they didn't rush at all ( Navy ).

Know my son and daughter , both will leaving the nest .

I am Proud of both of them , for joining the Military , I always
felt it was very important to do that .

By the way , I have a niece who joined the Airforce also with daughter
we been waiting to found out when she will leave to Tx with daughter
we hope anyways .

Plus we've 2 more young adult guys who joined the Airforce also , they
will leave next year 09. We 're trying to get one of my niece's to join
but he wont do it .........

I will be busy writing to my son and daughter plus the other 3 guys and gal ,
to show , I'm proud of them too .......

[Teri Q]

Holy Cow!!!! what a story you definately will be busy. I don't know how you will find the time. But yes the Navy seems to be very slow my son was a depper also. But he got moved up a month from the time he was supposed to leave and he had a really good recruiter who seemed to care. We were lucky in that respect now the other part. My son has no idea when his A School will start and hes been at Pensacola for 2 1/2 weeks already. He thought he could come home for Thanksgiving now he says he doesn't know. Go Figure and this a guy who wants to get on with his new career. Wait Wait Wait!!!!! Sounds like you have a lot to be proud of. feel free to write me anytime. Teri Q.

[Paula]

Just sharing my story... My son is a computer engineer who moved to Hawaii from Manhattan after 9/11. He started his own company and was living a happy, successful life. Anyone who lives in a military town (like Honolulu) knows that the peer pressure is enormous, but like all other men and women who make the choice, he felt he needed to do all he could to make this world a better place. He joined the reserves and is in Intel. For the most part I was OK with his decision, but feared he would be deployed to the Middle East. To my dismay he volunteered for Special Forces and at the ripe old age of 30 (a year older than the cut off of 29) he was accepted. He was deployed last year and spent 6 months crawling around the hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of a 6 "man" team comprised of a DIA agent (who he refers to as "the James Bond chick"), a CIA agent, a SEAL, a Ranger, my son and the contractor who led the group. He came home exhausted and very quiet and introspective. I am glad he is home alive and well, he is due to reup this month and the SEALs have made him an offer that he "can't refuse" so I am still fearful, but very proud of him - and all who serve in any capacity My heart and thoughts are with all of you and all of them.

[Lori]

Josh was in NJROTC in high school so I pretty much knew he was going to join the military. At first it was the mairnes. I did get to talk to his recruiter for the mairnes and did not get a good feeling for what he was telling me. Needless to say Josh did not like were it was going either. They did not offer him what he was looking for so he went to the Navy recruiter and asked him what they could offer him. So that is why he choose the Navy and went in on 9-5-05 in the DEP program and left for boot camp on 9-11-06. He is now doing what he wanted to do and is very happy doing it. He is a GSM 3 on a frigete stationed 50 miles from me so I get to see him. It was very hard the first deployment there were 2 weeks when they were not allowed any contact with their familys. That was a long 2 weeks.Homecoming in April was such an experience. Awesome to see how the other ships welcome them home by blowing their horns in the canal and seeing all the sailors in uniform standing out at attention.I am so proud if Josh.

[Janice Marquez]

My Son Librado "Lee" was a Senior in high school. Came home after school one day (keep in mind he had already been accepted at college) and said, "you know mom how sometimes you cannot image doing the same thing over and over everyday. Well I have decided to join the Navy. Good thing I was sitting down! He never had talked about joining the military ever in his life. I felt very proud but the same time in shock!!!!. My father was in the Air Force so there was some military background. Lee's father was more upset (only because he wanted to be sure he has making the right choice). The next Saturday our whole family went and talked to the recruiter. We really liked his recruiter! We told Lee that it was his decision and we would support him all the way. His dad wanted him to take a few days to think about it, but Lee knew what he wanted to do and signed that contract. What a big decision for an 18 year old. Needless to say his official signing date was Oct. 25, 2005. He is a submariner assigned to the USS Georgia and is loving it. As parents our job is to guide and be sure our kids are happy and productive. The Navy is helping with that!!!!!!

[LLovesmysailor]

I just read that your son is on the USS Georgia. My son's best friend (Clark) is also stationed on the Georgia. He is like my second son. Clark is an MM on the Georgia. My son is an RO (reactor operator) on the USS Miami. We just got great news, our son will be getting leave for Christmas this year. Your son is on a great boat, at least that's what my son (by another mother) tells me.

[Janice Marquez]

Hi Lyn. Do you know what crew Clark is on? There is a Blue and a Gold Crew. Lee is on the Blue crew and they just went to sea today. Give me Clarks Last name and when I hear from Lee I will ask him. These guys are all great.

[proud dad]

We had a battle with our daughter throughout her junior and senior year. She got hooked up with a boy who used everything he could of her, her savings, her life. We are a very close family and it ripped us up. In the process, of this very painfull chapter in our life, she never forgot her family. During this period she became a cna and worked at a nursing home. She became a super caretaker and started thinking about her life. In the process she got rid of the bad boyfriend, because a very close friend of her's died in a motorcycle accident. This young man showed her what real feelings felt like. She never talked to the boyfriend again and her road changed. She wasn't getting what she needed for herself at the nursing home. Since school was hard for her, we discussed her options. We thought the Navy would give her a oppertunity to become a nurse, be a humanitarian to many different people. She craved being a part of a team. So Mom and Dad went with her to visit the recruiter. He was very honest with her, and from reading these boards of boot camp he did not leave anything out. She is now in her fourth week of boot camp and her mom and dad could not be any prouder of her choices and her road she is traveling. Answered prayers.

[Lou S]

Our sailor actually took a year off after high school - hated school!,didn't know what he wanted to do, and worked at a local grocery store in the deli. Did a good job - was always frustrated with the ways things were done - very inefficiently. He did try the college thing and did do well - his focus was music as this is his first love (this is the one thing he missed the most in bootcamp - said he would actually look forward to getting those awful haircuts in bootcamp just to be able to listen to the music that was played in the barber shop/salon) - he did well in school and before the end of the first semester he joined yet another band, this time not just to practice in the basement and make noise, but they actually were part of a tour - he really thought they were going to be offered a record deal. Eventually the band fell apart, as most band members do not agree on the style of their music to pursue. Matt saw his life going nowhere as he countinued with the deli. One of his buddies was home on leave from the Navy and Matt met up with him several times during his leave, it was at this point that Matt told us of his intention to pursue this as a possibility and sought out the recruiter. My dad has done his best to persuade his children and grandchildren to not be a part of the military - he was a marine. Matt actually fretted the most about telling my family about his decision - all of the other grandchildren have gone on to college careers. When Matt told us he had actually joined - he is 20, you could have knocked my over with a feather. It seemed that once he made this decision, he grew up overnight - no more sitting on the couch playing x-box, he kept the meetings with his recruiter and actually accomplished in 5 weeks what some recruits need a year to complete. Ironic, he also met a girl about two months before his time to leave for bootcamp - I thought for sure he was going to change his mind....I needed info from the recruiter about what Matt's life was going to be like at bootcamp (I had no point of reference). That's where this website helped me the most - I am a nurse and feel everyone deserves to be informed as much as possible. So, Matt's in Pensacola, A-school for cryptology, waiting to class up. This is an unexpected journey for us as parents and as a family - we're looking forward to hearing about Matt's experiences and couldn't be more proud of him! I've always said, that when Matt is at the end of his life he will be able to look back and say, "yep, I did everything I wanted to and it was good!" Lou.

[LLovesmysailor]

I just read your message. My oldest son is also a Crypto tech. He is presently stationed in Norfolk, VA. Since this is the smallest group in the entire Navy, I never thought I'd ever talk to another Mother who's son is in this area. He loves what he does and is planning on staying in the Navy until he retires. Promotions are amazingly fast. My son has gone from boot camp to Petty Officer 2nd in one year. A path that normally takes 3 or more. The only thing I find a little hard to deal with is that because of the nature of his job, he can't talk about what he does or sometimes, where he works. So the phone calls are a little strange. "How are you," reply"Find", "What are you doing" reply "Can't tell You" etc, etc. But honestly he's a great guy (at 28 I can't call him a kid anymore) and we are closer than ever before. The A-class is apparently a very tough one, so encourage him to work hard. Its a great career if he makes it through school. Tell him "Good Luck" from another CT family.

[seabeeMom]

Hi all, just read some of the post and alot of them sound like my story. My son Travis, has been in since November '06, signed up for 6 years and so far has plans to make the Navy a career. He always talked about joining ever since he was in grade school. Two of his uncles, one aunt, and a cousin were also in the Navy. When he came home, his senior year of high school (2006) and said he was signing up for the DEP, his dad and I were a little shocked, but we kind of figured it was going to happen. His dad told him not to sign anything until he came back from the orientation, but I suppose he already had his mind made up because when he came home he showed us the papers., leaving in November. Having the entire summer off after graduation before going to Great Lakes. We could not have been more proud of him. Unless you want to count his graduation from Basic and A school. Travis is currently stationed on Coronado Naval Base and is a BU.

[justpicky03]

July 15, 2008 , Our son came to us ( mom and dad ) said I wanted to join the Navy .
It surprised me , but it didn't my husband , because a year earlier , husband talked
to son about it , I didn't know anything about it ( keeping mom in the dark ) . LOL
So after that spoke that day , they both left , were gone for several hours , But it wasn't
as simple as that just to leave . There's a process , once son found out when he's leaving
again it's about hurry up and wait . Funny part , daughter overheard son and husband talk
about the navy , and it started daughter to think about the Navy or Airforce , she said she would
get information from each one and go from there . So now both of my kids are going in and
we will have an Empty Nest , well except for the dog . My husband was in the navy also
in 1976 - 1980.

Son will be leaving Feb 2009 , to Great Lakes and daughter is leaving Dec 2008 to Texas.
Plus my niece is joined the Airforce too , she's leaving the same day as daughter , they're
going together . Then we've one more young man leaving too , he's going to Texas in Jan 2009.

Overall , We're Proud of our Son and Daughter this is there choice and they want to
Adventure to other countries. We will see them often .