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One night a few months ago, my youngest son was getting ready for bed. As I was getting ready for a good night's sleep as I tucked him in, he looked up at me and said, “Dad, I've made a lot of assists in my soccer games over the last few years – I can't remember how many. But I scored 31 goals. And you know what? You were there and you saw them all.”
My son may not have realized it at the time, but he had just given me one of the most amazing heartfelt gifts I have ever received.
To this day, I have never missed my son's soccer game and have made it to almost all of his practices. On those rare occasions when the coach asked me to help out at practice, I felt like there was no place in the world I would rather be than touching the grass with my son and his soccer buddies.
FATHERS CHOOSE THEM — AND AMERICA'S CHILDREN ARE PAYING A PAINFUL PRICE
My father taught me to ski when I was 4 years old. We spent many holidays and weekends together skiing in New England. It was only years later that I realized it wasn't about skiing but the wonderful time father and son spent together, which ended up being very important to both of us. Ski trips created opportunities for us to connect with our interests, often Boston sports teams, history, and foreign policy. Especially during meals together and during the car, we built a close relationship and even when I was young I would not have been ready to admit that, my father was an example, who showed me how much the family was the most important part of our lives.
On Father's Day, my thoughts also turn to my friend and former CIA colleague Dave Tyson and Mike Spann, a Marine Corps officer and CIA officer, whom I will always regret that I never had the honor of meeting in person. Mr. Tyson and Mr Spann were part of the eight-man “Team Alpha”, the first Americans to enter Afghanistan and take the fight to the Taliban as part of Operation Enduring Freedom following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
On November 25, 2001, they were gathering intelligence on hundreds of brutal al Qaeda fighters who were imprisoned in Qala-i-Jangi, a historic fort in Mazar-i-Sharif. Mr. Spann focused on one high-value detainee, American John Walker Lindh, who had trained at al Qaeda's notorious al Farouq training camp, where at least seven of the 9/11 hijackers also spent time. A few weeks before the 9/11 attacks, Lindh reportedly met with Osama bin Laden.
That day during a violent prison uprising, Mr. Spann defended himself valiantly against impossible circumstances and Mr. Tyson fought his way to safety after first trying to save Mr. Spann without success. Mr. Spann was our nation's first casualty in our war against al Qaeda and the Taliban.
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Bravely gathering intelligence while in danger so that we can identify and prevent threats to our country before harm is done to our citizens, Mr. Spann was a master of the CIA's spy operations. His memory inspired all of us who followed in his footsteps. Mr. Spann had three children, including her oldest daughter, who was 9 years old when she was killed. My heart aches for them, especially Father's Day.
To welcome his father home from what he understood to be a dangerous mission in Afghanistan, Mr. Tyson's son, then 8 years old, referred to his father's mud-covered boots as “daddy's lucky boots.”
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And that sums up how I feel about Father's Day.
My father died when I was 50 years old. Every day I spend with my sons is a blessing. On this father's day as I am every year, I will be filled with gratitude for having the great fortune to celebrate with my sons the best part of my life.
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