This week, in the aftermath of the tragic shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers, coverage of the memorial and funeral services for the fallen men have reminded us of the sacrifices law enforcement is sometimes called to make in protecting our nation.
The heart-rending events of Dallas represent the greatest of those sacrifices, yet there are daily sacrifices made by thousands of those who serve — not only in law enforcement, but in our military as well — that often go unnoticed and, therefore, under-appreciated.
Wednesday afternoon at Golden Triangle Regional Airport, I was reminded of one kind of sacrifice that most of us are never called to make as U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Darious Williams and Capt. Justin Cadwell stepped off a Delta Airlines flight around 4 p.m.
They were greeted by a dozen or so of their fellow officers from Columbus Air Force Base and one happy bride wearing a bright red dress and clutching an American flag.
As homecomings go, it was a small gathering, almost an intimate moment, as the weary soldiers (between them, the journey home was a five-day ordeal) fell into the embrace of their fellow officers and, in Cadwell’s case, the arms of Meredith Cadwell, his wife of less than a year.
There was no family at the airport to greet Williams. That celebration will happen today when he returns to his hometown of Edwards, Mississippi, where his family and girlfriend await his arrival.
Asked what he’s looking forward to the most, apart from seeing his family, Williams thought about it for a moment, smiled and answered, “Greens.” Just try getting some good collards in Qatar.
Williams is a career military man, having served for more than 12 years now. While deployments are a part of the job, his 5½-month deployment to Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar is the longest of his career.
“I’m happy to be getting home,” he said, softly. “It’s never easy, being away.”
Cadwell was also returning from the longest deployment of his nine-year Air Force career — six months in Baghdad, Iraq, which means he and Meredith have been apart longer than they have been together.
They had hoped to have more time together as a married couple, of course.
“But you know in this job, when your number comes up, it comes up,” he said.
As often seems to be the case, minor emergencies wait until after deployment.
In the six months Cadwell has been away, Meredith has had to manage those mini-disasters on her own. The dog dragged a turtle into the house. A bird flew into the house. Her mother ran over her own foot with her car, somehow. The toilet broke. “I fixed it,” she said, triumphantly.
Neither Williams nor Cadwell reported being in harm’s way during their deployment, thankfully, but that hardly means their sacrifices were minor. Being separated from those you love for half a year at a time is no mere inconvenience.
And yet what happened Wednesday at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport is something that plays out daily across our country — tearful departures and happy homecomings — for thousands of the men and women who serve our country through their sacrifices.
I was tempted to say “sacrifices, great and small.”
But there are no small sacrifices.
It is something all of us should remember.
If by chance, you meet a soldier during the course of your daily routine, thank that person. We don’t know what sacrifices that soldier has already made nor what sacrifices lie just beyond the horizon. We should be grateful every day, because those sacrifice are made every day.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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