A Soldier's Daughter

• by Lyn Weldon
• 5 years ago

My dad was killed weeks before I came into the world and only days before the horrible war ended, so he never knew the child he was expecting was a girl. I would give everything to give him a cuddle, even after 74 years.

• by Neelam Agarwal
• 7 years ago

Yes, this poem really touched my heart. I know that whoever has written this poem is a great writer. Bless you, dear. Good luck on writing more poems and yes, of course, keep it up!

• by Ruby Punjabi
• 8 years ago

Its a wonderful poem!....I loved it! It touched my heart! Amazing.....

• by Thomas, London
• 10 years ago

I am a retired Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Marines and have been a military man for 20 years, a veteran of both Gulf Wars and many other conflicts. In fact the First Gulf War was my first overseas deployment. The day my first daughter was born, 3 March 1991, I took a bullet just above my body armour. It tore open the artery on the left side of my neck. Only by the presence of mind that our field medic showed and the very lucky circumstance that an American Blackhawk was circling just two clicks off our position was my life saved that day.
Always have I been very aware of the fact in my later career my newborn daughter could very well have been half-orphaned on the day of laying eyes on the world for the first time. This knowledge has made me more careful and more mindful of what my men risk every day. I believe this made me a better commanding officer, someone not taking unnecessary chances with the lives of the soldiers under my command.
My daughter confessed to me when she was eleven and I was to be deployed to the Gulf once more that the thought of me never coming back from a deployment almost was too much to bear and that the only thing keeping her from crying her eyes out every night for the duration of my deployments was the knowledge that I was fighting to keep her, her siblings and her mother safe, that I was fighting to bring peace to regions torn asunder. She called me her sentinel, the man who endured horrors so she would never have to. As my little girl uttered these words it became painfully clear to me that the choices I made for my life had cost her the innocence of childhood. This was more horrible to me than anything I had witnessed in all the war zones I have ever been to. When I arrived in the Gulf, again, my CO noticed I was writing home more often than usual to let especially my children know that I was all right, so I confided in him and we talked it over. He recommended me for a teaching post at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines the very next day and I was reassigned at the end of my tour. My girl never had to fear for her dad's safety again.

• by Kendal Thibodeaau
• 11 years ago

My dad is in the army and when he deployed to Cuba my mom started doing drugs and a lot of other bad things and now he is in Afghanistan and I just hope nothing bad will happen.

• by Kirsten, Michigan
• 12 years ago

My dad is in the army and was deployed 3 months ago, I never knew how sad it would be although he has been deployed about five times already each time gets harder and harder. I miss my dad so much you can't believe. I drive home everyday and see his truck in the driveway and that deep dark hole in my chest overwhelms my body with sadness and I just want to cry, I know that I can't because I am the strong one and my mom and siblings expect me to be.

• by Isis, North Carolina
• 14 years ago

My father is not a soldier. but my mother is in the US ARMY. The 2nd month after I was born my mother was deployed to South Korea for 1 year. On the day I first meet my mother I was very happy to see her.

• by Sasha, California
• 14 years ago

My husband is a marine, and it just so happens that he was deployed five weeks before the birth of our first child... a beautiful little girl.
Even though he was gone for half a year the day he came home she acted as if he had been there the whole time.
The bond between father and daughter is amazing.