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Date Posted: 10:55:58 12/21/13 Sat
Author: usmgrad
Subject: 2010 -Good Night Son

Title: Good Night Son

Author: usmgrad

This is one of three stories I wrote for the Anniversary Challenges in 2010. As we all know Christmas was a bitter sweet time for Harm, these stories were my vision of what Harm's life might have been like before JAG.

A/N: while we know Harm Sr. went down on Christmas Eve I am going on the assumption the family was not notified until a few days later.


December 1969

Girls, including moms are weird. Today started out great, Mom and I were making Christmas cookies while waiting for Grandma and Granddad to get here. I like my grandparents, they always bring me cool toys and Grandpa always takes me fishing. In the middle of making the cookies there was a knock at the door, Mom said it was too earlier for my grandparents. It was two Navy men. That’s when the weird stuff started to happen. Mom’s smile disappeared and she sent me next door to Mrs. Thompson’s for sugar. I don’t know why, we had just pulled the sugar out of the cabinet. Anyhow when I got to Mrs. Thompson’s and told her I needed sugar her smile disappeared too. What’s so sad about sugar? She looked at my house with the dark car in front of it, looked at me and I thought she was going to cry. That’s when she told me to go play with Tommy. We played with the new cars he got for Christmas and I forgot all about the sugar and the cookies.

I must have been gone a long time because I didn’t even see my grandparents get to my house. My granddad came to get when it started to get dark. Everything was quiet when I got home, the cookies Mom and I were going to make had been cleaned up and grandmom said my Mom was lying down with a headache.

Mom never did come out of her bedroom; I guess her headache was really bad. Grandmom made me soup and grilled cheese for dinner and Granddad played Chutes and Ladders with me. Now I’m lying in my bed waiting for my mom to tuck me in. Grandmom promised me pancakes in the morning and Granddad said we could go fishing if it was alright with my Mom.

“Are you ready for bed?”

Mommy looks sad; I guess her headache hasn’t gone away yet. “Yes Mom, I even brushed my teeth twice. I think one is getting loose.”

“You’re getting to be so old I keep forgetting. Sometimes I still think of you are my little boy, but your not little anymore are you.” She’s doing that ‘Mom’ thing, you know touching my face, combing my hair with her fingers.

“No ma’am” my dad told me before he left to always call adults ma’am or sir.

“Harmon, I guess you’re wondering who those men were that came this afternoon.”

At the sound of my big name, I get quiet, I sure hope those men didn’t say something about me being at the air field the other day. I was not in anyone’s way; I just wanted to see the planes.

“Am I in trouble?”

“No sweetheart, you’re not in trouble. The men that were here came to tell me something about your father.”

I sit up in my bed and I know I’m smiling, “is he coming home early?” That would make this the best Christmas every.

“No sweetheart, he’s not coming home . . . early.” Mom stopped to wipe her eyes. They are really red, like she’s been crying.

“Daddy had some trouble with his plane, it was hit and he couldn’t fly it any more. He had to eject.”

“Did he get to use his parachute?” During the base air show Dad took me to see the paratroopers jump from a plane. Dad told him that he too had a parachute every time his flew his plane.

“Yes he used his parachute.” Trish smiled at her son; he was all about flying even at this young age. He was definitely his father’s son.

“Cool.” I can’t wait to ask dad about how it felt to use the parachute.

“But, Harm listen to me, Daddy’s parachute landed him in an area that had people that weren’t very friendly. He was okay but when the helicopter went to pick him up he wasn’t there any more. They looked all over for them but they couldn’t find him”

“Was he hiding, like Tommy did last week when we played hide and seek? Tommy hid real good and no one found him until we called ‘ollie ollie oxen free’ ”

“No Harm, daddy wasn’t hiding, he just disappeared.”

“Is the helicopter still looking for him? Maybe if they said . . .”

Mom did another weird mom thing again, she hugged me real tight, “they are still doing everything they know to find him but right now your daddy is missing.”

This didn’t sound good, I know all about missing. My favorite plane is missing, I’ve looked everywhere for it but can’t find it.

“Are they going to find him?” My voice sounds funny, I think I’m scared. What if they don’t find him?

“The Navy men told me they are still looking but that it might take some time before they know anything. So we have to be brave and wait patiently until he’s found, okay?”

“Okay mom. I’ll be a good boy and not get in trouble, anymore. Except if Peter calls me names again, he can be really mean sometimes.”

“No fighting Harmon, even with Peter.”

“Yes mother. Can I hear my story now?”

This is my favorite time of the day. As I close my eyes I can hear my Dad’s strong voice fill the room. I don’t know why those men told mom Dad’s missing he’s right here with me every night.


‘Goodnight room, Goodnight moon,
Good night planes, good night trains.
Good night little puppy Kip.
Good night stars, goodnight air, goodnight son.
Sleep tight for your day is done.’

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Replies:

[> Such a moving story! Thank you, usmgrad. -- Dee, 03:13:02 12/22/13 Sun [1]


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[> Wonderful story so sad.. Thanks for sharing. -- Beth, 04:08:26 12/22/13 Sun [1]


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[> Reminds us that even in this time of joy, there is sadness. Beautifully written! -- JoyZ, 09:38:26 12/22/13 Sun [1]


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[> Thank you for reposting this beautiful story. -- Can Sheshe, 19:47:16 12/31/13 Tue [1]


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