SOUTHWEST ASIA -- As the proud mother of three amazing sons, I have been blessed on many occasions by the "honesty" only a small child can provide. The list of indescribable moments have been well documented; forever etched in my mind. Comments such as "Grandma, will you be a princess for Halloween because you are so pretty?" That remark earned my middle son numerous blocking drills between grandma and mom when discipline was attempting to be enforced. Or my personal favorite, an outburst in the bank when a very large women's pager went off, "Mommy watch out, she is backing up". I was mortified, my son quizzical and my husband bent over from laughter. That remark banned us from the bank.

As these memories wrapped around me, I never expected to have my 4-year old son teach me about honor, duty and patriotism. We were stationed in San Angelo, Texas at Goodfellow Air Force Base. The wing headquarters, at the time, was directly across from the Child Development Center. The base flag was proudly displayed in front of the headquarters in a circular courtyard, beautifully maintained with a pride that was contagious across the base. Each day at 1700, I would hear retreat from my work location, acknowledging the end of the duty day. As with cadence heard from numerous formations, it was a sound that registered, but for the most part was ignored. On this particular day, I arrived early to retrieve my son from the Child Development Center.

It was 10 minutes before retreat and I was anxious to pick up my son and finish some errands. All of the children in my son's class were in the lobby anxiously waiting. I assumed they were there to greet their parents. As we walked out the door, my son began tugging on my arm, adamant we could not leave. At that moment, the CDC providers shepherded the children outside to the sidewalk facing the wing headquarters. My son pulled me over to his peers and said, " Shhh Mommy, it's Flag Time"!

As I stood there in wonder, the children quietly lined up and waited for the honor guard to emerge from the wing headquarters. The honor guard took their positions and at the first note of retreat, each child came to the position of attention and placed their hand over their heart. At the end of the music, they quietly waited for the flag to be secured. Once secured, the chatter from the children commenced and my son began regaling me with his exploits during the day.

My mind was racing. How many times had I waited until after retreat to walk outside? How many times had I ducked inside to avoid being "caught" during retreat? When I asked him how often they stood outside, he nonchalantly said, "Every day". When I asked why they stood outside, he cocked his head and said "Mommy, it's our FLAG!" as if he was speaking to someone from outer space. On this day, my small son reminded me of my duty as an Airman to render proper respect to our nation's flag. To honor our flag that has been flown in numerous battles--to maintain our precious freedoms. But most importantly, my small son had shown me patriotism in its purest form, through the eyes of a child. A lesson to this day I have never forgotten.