When A Military Family Becomes A Gold Star Family

Have you read "When A Military Family Becomes A Gold Star Family?"

When A Military Family Becomes A Gold Star Family!

The son of a fallen Navy SEAL recounts the day his family found out his father died in this recently published novel.

This is an excerpt from “My Father’s Son,” a new novel by Andy Symonds, the son of a Navy captain.

http://taskandpurpose.com/when-a-military-family-becomes-a-gold-star-family/

It was my mom’s scream from downstairs that finally shook me out of bed that morning. It couldn’t have been more than a moment after the doorbell rang and she left my room, but somehow I had managed to drift back into a protective sleep.

Suddenly I found myself standing at that sunny window in my bedroom, shades ripped back, my short breaths fogging the panes that just minutes before had brought light into the room. Now, through that same lens, my panicked eyes focused on a dark blue sedan parked in the driveway. Two ashen sailors were adjusting their covers as they respectfully stood at attention on the front porch. One appeared to be a chaplain while the other was wearing standard Navy Dress Blues – with one difference. My eyes instinctively went to the large gold pin on the stockier man’s uniform. It rested proudly on his upper left breast and blazed brightly, like it had a life of its own. The anchor, trident, eagle, and pistol. A relatively small object that told a much bigger story. That signified its wearer as a warrior elite. A U.S. Navy SEAL. It was the same pin that I had looked upon with fascination on my dad’s uniform. The same pin that when he let me hold it, under his direct supervision, I cradled in my cupped palms like the treasure it was. My eyes ignored the other ribbons and medals on the man’s uniform, the white collar on the chaplain’s dark suit. I stayed focused on that symbol of strength, drawing solace from the Trident. Not crying, barely breathing, but knowing what their presence meant.