Do you remember saying goodbye?

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 18:51:09 -0500

We've all, undoubtedly, said many goodbyes. What's your most memorable farewell?

Mine is the day I entered the Army. The recruiter came to our upstate NY home at something like 0600 to pick up my 17-year-old self and take me to the recruiting station, then on to the airport and basic training at Fort Polk, LA. After I said goodbye to my mother, my aunt (who lived down the road and was like a second mother to me) waved through her window as we drove by. And she never got up at such an early hour! That day was just over 39 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

What about you? What's your most memorable goodbye?

Response by SGT Richard H. made Nov 12 at 2014 6:58 PM

SGT Richard H. — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 18:58:30 -0500

Saying goodbye to my mother when I left for USMC basic was pretty memorable. Up to that day, I don't remember ever having seen her cry. I saw it then!

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Nov 12 at 2014 7:21 PM

MSG Wade Huffman — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 19:21:55 -0500

My most memorable was when I said goodbye to my wife, my son, and my daughter the day I left for Afghanistan. It is still a vivid memory nearly a decade later and much more vivid than my 'homecoming' was.. that is still just a blur to me, or even the day I left for the Army... MANY decades ago (of course that has probably faded much more from age!)

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Nov 12 at 2014 7:33 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 19:33:05 -0500

Saying goodbye to Baghdad! At the last minute we found out we were getting flown from BIAP to Kuwait by our very own RI Air Guard 143rd Airlift Wing in their brandy-new C-130Js, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have just left Iraqi airspace. Welcome to Kuwait" You couldn't even hear the engines for the next 5 minutes there was so much hoopla!

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 12 at 2014 7:56 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 19:56:54 -0500

Saying bye to my wife on my way to my first TDY after we just got married.... she was so sad!

Response by MSG(P) Michael Warrick made Nov 12 at 2014 9:41 PM

MSG(P) Michael Warrick — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 21:41:04 -0500

Yes - I remember saying goodbye to my wife, daughters and parents at the airport when I left on ADVON to go on deployment. It was better that way then having a sendoff ceremony.

Response by SPC(P) Jay Heenan made Nov 12 at 2014 10:04 PM

SPC(P) Jay Heenan — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 22:04:27 -0500

My most memorable goodbye was not when I left for deployment to Afghanistan (though I remember that vividly as well), it was when I was going back after my R&R. I took R&R 8 months into my deployment and I had already been blown up twice at that point. I stress this, because I am in a non-combat MOS. We are not supposed to get blown up. Anyway, I knew when I left home to go back to Afghanistan that I still had more missions to accomplish once I got back and leaving after my R&R was way harder than I thought.

Response by SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS made Nov 13 at 2014 8:23 AM

SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 08:23:45 -0500

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member Yes, to my father when I deployed. He was a WWII veteran and I was deeply afraid he would die while I was deployed. I was serving as the 1SG of a CID Detachment and had to stay focused on the mission and my Soldiers. He was unable to come to the ceremony when we said our formal "good bye" but I said good bye privately to him before deploying. I had seen my Dad cry twice previously, both times at the death of his spouses. My mom died when I was 17 and my step mom died too. As we said good bye, a tear rolled down his face. It was the most emotionally charged experience I had to that point. Thankfully he and I both made it through my deployment, as did all of my Soldiers.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 13 at 2014 8:35 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 08:35:17 -0500

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member Indeed I do. My sister was crying and so was my girlfriend though it was a bus and not a train and then a trip to the Airport. Got on (in according to George Carlin), a 727 of Eastern Airlines. I sat near the bathrooms and could smell the disinfectant in the bathroom as the jet took off, feeling the steeper incline on my first trip since I was an infant. MSG Wade Huffman I had to tell Wade to get out of my seat! Just kidding Wayne. lol

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 13 at 2014 8:37 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 08:37:14 -0500

Getting there was another matter, parts I forget.. lol before debarking the bus to the base itself. Pointy hats and loud voices, the next is a rush... CW5 Private RallyPoint Member

Response by SGT Steven Montgomery made Nov 13 at 2014 9:01 PM

SGT Steven Montgomery — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 21:01:34 -0500

Mine was very similar about a month and a half after you!!

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Nov 29 at 2014 8:57 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 20:57:28 -0500

Kissing my babies goodbye at 0400 before heading to Iraq in early 2003. It was my fist deployment with them alive.

Response by SSG V. Michelle Woods made Nov 29 at 2014 9:04 PM

SSG V. Michelle Woods — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 21:04:33 -0500

Oh wow Chief, what a great discussion topic!

My sweet momma has been there for every goodbye and been there to welcome me back home :) aw I love my momma!!!

Response by CMSgt James Nolan made Nov 29 at 2014 9:06 PM

CMSgt James Nolan — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 21:06:09 -0500

Leaving my 10 month old daughter in Sept 2001 headed out. Gone from Sept 2001 to March or April of 2003. And that was before we could do the whole Skype thing.....so it was the odd phone call at the weird hours, for 5 minutes, when you could get into the morale tents....

That sucked. (the not being able to see/hold/talk to the baby). The deployment was good to go.

Response by MSgt Keith Hebert made Nov 29 at 2014 10:19 PM

MSgt Keith Hebert — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 22:19:31 -0500

I have said goodbye so many times over the years it is crazy.
But the first time was when I was leaving for USMC boot camp and I was put on a bus in lake Charles,LA headed for MEPS in Houston. I still can see myself staring out the window as the bus drove away, my dad crying my mom waving and them disappearing in the distance, and me scared.

Response by SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 29 at 2014 10:43 PM

SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 22:43:55 -0500

Most memorable for me was September 2004, I was saying goodbye to my then girlfriend, now wife. Pittsburgh airport, headed back to the desert after r&r was over. It was raining very heavily, in fact, it was the remnants of a hurricane passing through. I had forgotten a knife that was left in my carry-on, and the tsa guy let my future wife take it back to the car. That was most memorable because it was the hardest. And it certainly wasn't the last one with her. I also remember that their was a full bird returning, I remember his wife crying. Lots of things happened like me not able to get a hold of her when I got to Kuwait, turns out Carnegie, where we lived at the time got flooded and power went out.

Response by SGT Kyle Johnson made May 10 at 2016 11:08 PM

SGT Kyle Johnson — Tue, 10 May 2016 23:08:10 -0400

Mine was during a TDY to Goodfellow AFB. I never had a goodbye with anyone, my rule was just to leave. My wife and family always understood this. I did not do goodbyes. But, while at Goodfellow AFB we had a 3 day weekend and drove to Dallas to see my Grandfather (WWII vet), was old and a few health problems. He was in the hospital and the day I left to go back to base and back to Berlin, he stopped me and said he was dying, to go back to my unit, do my duty and not come home for his funeral. Was there when it counted and that was all he wanted. He died 2 months later, and the casket was carried by 7, with a gap that represented my spot.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jan 28 at 2022 11:00 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 23:00:43 -0500

This actually a story of returning. When I returned from Desert Storm my ex wife was 30 lbs. heavier. I guess she ate a lot of food. She did not save any money either.