ETS

May 19 2026 ETS

Many years ago today I threw my boots over the wire, packed my duffel bag, looked at the entrance sign to Fort Ord in my rearview mirror and left Monterey and headed home. It was a Thursday when my ETS date (Expiration of Term in Service) arrived. It was one of the happiest days of my young life. It was the day I had been counting down to for 2 years. I had completed my active duty in the US Army and was a PFC again. I was a literal PFC in rank when I left. But in the case of my ETS, I was a PFC (Proud Frickin Civilian) again. I immediately headed east to Salinas and drove south through the valley, past vineyards, down highway 5 past Bakersfield, then east past Edwards AFB, Barstow, and highway 40 took me to Needles where I spent the night in a cheap motel. The next morning I got up early and drove straight through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and as the sun rose over Kansas City, I entered Missouri and drove all the way to my mom's to a small town not very far from Hannibal, Missouri. I was tired but happy to finally see home again after those long 2 years. It was the morning of May 21st, a Saturday. All I remember of that long drive was seeing all the scenery of the desert and plains of the parts of the country I had never seen before. The few days I spent at my Mother's were spent relaxing and going fishing with my 2 little sisters. Then I got in my car and headed to Illinois to my Dad's house in a small town south of Joliet. And that's where I spent my 1st year going to college, living with Dad and attending Joliet Junior College. It was good to see him and gramma again. Gramma, who always lived in the same small house in the same small town where I had grown up and always meant home to me. It was good to be free. The years that have passed since that day have been hard on me. I've had good and bad times. Many good memories and many long years of grief and hardships. Life was never what I imagined or dreamed it would be. But I made it. And here I am. God's grace carried me through each and every day. Since I first arrived in this world, to my exit from the Army, to my college and working days, to now. And Now is My Salvation Closer than when I first Believed.

Fort Ord is gone now. The Army closed the base down years ago. There's a college there now where my Army home used to be. I haven't been back there in many, many years. Not since the day I left. Maybe someday before I pass away from this earthly realm, I'll get a chance to see that sign again and reminiscence of all the goodness God has granted me. 

The picture I chose for this post hung on my college apartment wall, on loan from the local library in Champaign, Illinois. It still moves me.