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Sports |
October 2008
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By now, most of America has seen the video of sailor Bill Hawes surprising his 6-year old son John at school, after returning from a seven month deployment to Iraq. The video struck a chord in this county that continues to resonate. I was originally scheduled to be there for Bill's return, but couldn't because of a late-breaking news story. It would have been a reunion of sorts. You see, Bill Hawes and I went to school together. We played in the school band at Sedro-Woolley High and were part of the same graduating class. If I recall correctly, he played the saxophone. Bill was the quiet type, I didn't really know him all that well. But when I saw his name on the assignment sheet and it said he was returning to Sedro-Woolley, I figured it had to be same person I knew back when. Like a lot of people, I watched the video of Bill's reunion with his son on the Internet. Sitting in the front seat of a KING 5 news van parked at the Snohomish County Courthouse, I found myself wiping away tears. I too am a dad... and I can't imagine the difficulty of being gone for so long. There are countless pictures that have served as defining moments in our country's military history: The flag being erected at Iwo Jima, a sailor kissing a young woman at the end of World War II, a young child running down a road in Vietnam after a napalm drop. There is already talk the video clip of this reunion could join those ranks. Time will tell. |
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