I had a fantastic conversation with Art and Jennifer Hargrove on air last night. Art did a great job explaining what the lifestyle of those serving active duty entails and what transitioning from active duty to civilian life is like. We also discussed how your faith, your church and your prayers can be a wealth of support for military families. I have posted a partial transcript with a link to the complete show now in archive.
Mary-Your official title in the military was?
Art-I was in the Navy, a hospital Corpsman E4 third class petty officer.
Mary-From a mom’s perspective, boot camp was very hard for me. He hit a plane here in Atlanta and left and that was it. It was very difficult for me because I knew, you know, little contact. What was boot camp like for you on the inside?
Art-Looking back on it, I look at it with fondness. You make a lot of friendships-you’re all in this together so you grow pretty close together. And the things that they really try to pound into you, you really appreciate later on. The attention to detail is a big thing-attention to the small details because when you’re on ship, people are relying on you to focus on those details so that accidents don’t happen.
Mary-Jennifer, you knew about military life. (from dating Art while he was enlisted) Tell me why you didn’t get married while he was still active duty.
Jennifer-I remember going to the bases. You drive down the road and it’s pawn shops and strip bars. When we got engaged, Art told me ‘You are not living here. I am not going to make you go through this.'
Art-It was really the lifestyle we’ve been talking about. The nomadic lifestyle at times and some of the things that are in towns, it can be rough. We would hear of-and I’m sure it was related to post traumatic stress or related to normal duty-people getting shot. They would come back (from deployments) and they would hear of their spouses cheating and they’d get shot. I’d see them at the hospital (because I was) working nights a lot. I would go down to the Emergency Room and help out sometimes down there and it was rough.
Mary-You both relied on your faith.
Art-Absolutely. Everyone goes through a little rebellion. I tried to help my guys out because I had already been through that. But yeah, (my faith) definitely helped.
Mary-It goes back to-even more so in (the) military as opposed to civilian life-you have to have a strong faith foundation.
Jennifer-If the churches were offering the support (for women), you would be providing stability. You might not have the wives cheating on their husbands if their faith is being built and then when their husbands come home, they could minister to their husbands who have been in these stressful situations.
Mary-You can’t underestimate the power of prayer. Thank you for your service, Art. (Here's) A tip from me, Mary. If you see a public servant whether it’s military, or police, or fireman, buy their coffee. Buy their dinner. It’s such a small thing but it brings such a smile to their face.
Listen to the show in its entirety here.
