San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
For America— that’s why Dad remains onwatch
My dad, a retired U.S. Navy master chief, likes to engage in spirited arguments about politics.
Some retirees like to work on puzzles to keep their minds sharp. Others take up hobbies or volunteer work. Not the Master Chief. He likes showing his grandkids how to pay attention and watch others to win them over — or win competitions. But I firmly believe one of the commendations he earned for his ribbon bar is for stirring political pots.
I used to think he just enjoyed whipping his opponents into a frenzy of irritation and disbelief. I’d leave the room hot, vowing never to be lured into the arguing-with-dad quicksand — until I found myself waist-deep in it again. I’d read up on issues, prepare for the predictable arguments, and memorize quotes from presidents past and present. He might be able to pull rank on me, but I was sure he wouldn’t be able to argue with the commanders in chief whom he had sworn to serve.
Sometimes I forgot what I was going to say. Other times I flubbed a detail and lost credibility. Still other times, he Oval Officed me before I knew what was happening. Eventually, I figured out he was harvesting talking points to beef up his game. He argued as if he were Captain Kirk trying to outwit a Klingon aggressor, and it wasn’t until 30 minutes later when I was four stoplights from my house that I asked myself why the hell I was always the Klingon in this scenario.
Eventually, I figured it out.
My dad enlisted in the Navy in 1965. Back then, Edmundo Conchas was a teenager from Laredo who joined the Navy after he got a draft order. A few months later when he came home for a week after basic training before his first assignment, he needed parental permission to get married. That Mexican American kid hadn’t traveled far from home when he was sent to San Diego and Seattle, then to a ship that took him to a war on the other side of the world.
He served active duty for 27 years, most of those spent as a recruiter in South Texas. He rose in the ranks, bringing young men and women into military careers such as the one that changed his life and created the foundation for mine. I grew up watching him love what he did and was especially proud when he would show up at my school or CYO softball games in uniform. And in all those years, I don’t remember him as a particularly political animal; instead, he was an American in uniform, loyal to the nation, the flag and the office of the president.
In the 50 years since he first enlisted, the Master Chief has seen some things. He changed, and so did America. His years in active duty spanned the uncomfortable post-Vietnam-War era and ran through the big-spending arms race of the Reagan years, but as far as he’s concerned, he’s in the Navy for life. Now that he’s had some time to reflect on what his years of service meant, he has a few opinions to share.
And rightfully so, because its his experience — and the experiences of those like him — that shape America. In our neverending march to becoming a more perfect union, we make a lot of mistakes. And if anybody has the right to make themselves heard, it is the Americans who have gone to war to protect what we hold dear.
The Master Chief often wears ball caps and T-shirts that identify him as a retired sailor; the U.S. Navy seal on his truck tells the world what he’s all about. Usually, though, it’s his opinions about the way things ought to be. Sure, sometimes he argues just for fun, but more often, it’s because he really believes America needs to stay vigilant. After all, we didn’t just happen. It took some doing.
Talking about it ought to remind us of that.
As far as I’m concerned, he’s earned that.