Son, grandfather admired, remembered on for Father’s Day
For nearly a century, the nation has set aside the third Sunday in June as a day to pay tribute to the men that have loved and inspired us since birth. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd pushed for the recognition of fathers after her father single-handedly raised her and her four siblings after the death of their mother.
On June 19, 1910, the first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane, Wash.
This year, the observance brings to two local families the opportunity to reflect upon the influences of those who have served their country in the past to those with more recent military service.
The role of fathers has only increased over the course of time and has become more difficult as new challenges present themselves, according to South Connellsville resident John Sage. Sending his son, Scot into battle was difficult for him.
“Not just once, but twice, we’ve had to say goodbye,” said John Sage. “It doesn’t get any easier the more times you do it.”
As the holiday approaches, his son is continuing his training with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
Scot Sage originally enlisted in the Navy in 1987, seeing duty in the Mediterranean the next year and in Desert Storm in 1991.
He left the Navy in 1994 and signed on with the Connellsville National Guard unit in 2001. He and approximately 50 other unit members returned in January after spending six months in Europe providing security force protection at U.S. military bases.
John Sage said he wasn’t surprised by his son’s enlistment into the Navy shortly after his high school graduation as he was following the path of other family members.
“I was working in the steel mill when I was drafted in September 1965,” recalled the family patriarch. “I had signed up for the draft and I knew (the notice) would come.”
Luckily, he said, his 18-month hitch was spent at Fort Polk, La. While there, he and wife, Donna, became parents for the first time with the birth of daughter, Dana. The three returned home and with time, Scot and daughter Amy joined the family.
“It was a bad time for those of us in the military during those years,” said John Sage. “People were disrespectful and some wouldn’t even talk to us because we were with the military during the war in Vietnam.”
Thankfully, he said, his son has not had to endure that same kind of treatment as the 1991 war in the Persian Gulf Region saw a renewal of patriotism by the nation and the support for its military personnel has continued through the more recent participation of U.S. troops in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I’m proud of what my son and the other (soldiers) have done,” said John Sage. “(His deployments) were hard, especially for his mother, because you never know what can happen.”
Now, said John Sage, his son’s name is also etched along side his, and his uncles, William Sage Jr. and Richard Sage, Albert, Guy and Arnold Tressler and his grandfather’s, Connell Tressler, on the borough’s veterans’ honor roll.
“I’m very proud of that,” said John Sage.
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Randee Leigh Farrell, meanwhile, will not be home this year for Father’s Day, but her thoughts will be with those who have influenced her life’s path.
The West Point graduate is currently serving in Iraq.
In addition to her father, U.S. Army Capt. Patrick Farrell (retired), her grandfather, Bullskin Township resident Robert Durbin has been a guiding force and a source of strength and encouragement in her life.
The Farrell family are former Dawson residents, now residing in Virginia.
“Many of the decisions that I have made in my life have been a result of his example and love,” said Randee Farrell of her relationship with Durbin.
During her childhood, said Farrell, her grandfather shared his life experiences of participating in World War II and the Korean War.
“He wasn’t able to come back for his mother’s funeral or many other important moments in his family’s life (because he was serving his country),” she said. Even though there were missed opportunities to be with his family, he never regretted and was always proud of his service to his country and this inspired Farrell.
His military service, along with that of her father and her uncle, Brig. Gen. Robert E. Durbin, sparked her interest in attending West Point.
“My grandfather was sure it would be a life lesson for me,” she said.
It was her father and grandfather that looked to the skies at Fort Benning, Ga., when she made her inaugural airborne jump and presented her with her wings to mark the achievement and then stood at her side when she took her oath as a member of the Armed Services at her 2002 graduation from the prestigious military academy.
“In each experience, it has been as if one generation was simply passing the baton to the next,” said Farrell.
Again, like her father and grandfather, she is now experiencing the rigors of war.
“My dad continues to motivate me with his words of love and wisdom from home,” said Farrell. “There isn’t a week that goes by that he doesn’t send me details from home and little jewels of advice on what the Army has left to teach me.”
Her grandfather, with a little help from her grandmother, Rose Durbin, maintains Farrell’s lifeline to home with care packages filled with cookies and brownies along with their letters of inspiration.
“Sunday will be a special day, because it is days like these that you have time to dwell on the gifts that our fathers and grandfathers have bestowed upon us,” she said. “While it may have been the hugs we shared, the advice that has taught us, or simply the love that has shown us the way, it is a day to remember the difference that my father and grandfather have made in my life.”