FAITH IN OUR SONS: A Father's Wartime Diary

Sea Power, May 2004 by Munns, David W

FAITH IN OUR SONS: A Father's Wartime Diary by Frank Schaeffer, New York, N.Y.: Avalon Publishing Group, May 2004. 288 pp. $25.00 ISBN: 0-7867-1322-4

Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones, NATO chief, wrote to Frank Schaeffer explaining the unfortunate truth that "there has been a 'disconnect' between the men and women who defend our nation and those who are the beneficiaries of that service." This gap in American ideology is exactly what Schaeffer seeks to bridge in his own life after his son, John, volunteers for an unlikely deployment in support of the war on terrorism. With his son's service in the Marine Corps, Schaeffer admits he has "undeservedly stumbled into the America that gives back more than it takes."

Faith in Our Sons: A Father's Wartime Diary is the journal of Schaeffer's voyage as he grapples with the whirlwind of emotions that a parent experiences during the temporary loss of a child. The book is much more than a diary of his experiences - it's a pastiche of the millions of lives affected by military service and the analytical, often philosophical, discussions Schaeffer shares with colleagues, fans, his family and even himself about his newfound identity as a reluctant, but proud, military father.

Schaeffer's initial reaction to John's involvement in the Marines is thoroughly developed in his first book on the subject, co-authored with his son, Keeping Faith: A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps. This new book serves as an excellent supplement to that story and adds perspective to the struggle a parent experiences when a child leaves for war.

Upon learning of his son's deployment to the Middle East, Schaeffer writes, "We want to figure out what the hell we've done (or not done) to produce this strapping Marine, to get ourselves into this nightmare, one where pride and fear mix in equal blood-pressure-popping proportions." His wife reiterates Schaeffer's concern and notes, "It was time for me to study and learn some hard lessons that I'd been avoiding. For one thing, I needed to learn about patriotism." There is evidence throughout the book, through the sentiments of Schaeffer and the dozens of e-mails he shares with readers, that he is embittered by the fact that, "These days our nation's elite and our political leaders who send our sons and daughters to war do not send their own children."

Schaeffer's own clash with the extent of his patriotism, and the methods and means surrounding America's war on terrorism, are most clearly annunciated with correspondence between him and Frank Gruber, "an entertainment lawyer and local columnist living in Santa Monica, Calif.," a place, according to Schaeffer, "that probably produces fewer Marines per square mile than any other place in America." Although Gruber is described as "an optimist who believes in progress and the goodness of just about everybody but Republicans," Schaeffer notes that Gruber's "concern and friendship helped [him] get through many a tough day as John went to war."

Schaeffer watches the news each night when his son is first deployed and begins many of his entries with headlines that might have appeared on the given date. The headline for his April 9,2003, entry reads, "U.S. Forces Take Control of Baghdad." Schaeffer, commenting on the seemingly absurd course of his life, writes, "Baghdad falls. Oprah calls. This is the strangest day of my life." Schaeffer's life is indeed unique, and his emotional struggle with his son's precarious circumstances are confounded by the publicity Keeping Faith is receiving while his son is overseas fighting at an undisclosed location.

Each day, Schaeffer and his wife read the news and often end their days with uneasy stomachs and alarming wake-up calls at odd hours of the morning. When they discover their son is in Afghanistan, their unease shifts to a feeling of anger that the fight against al Qaeda is overshadowed by the politics surrounding the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Eventually, communications between Schaeffer and his son become more frequent, which causes Schaeffer to ponder his personal patriotism and the nobility of his son's service with the Marines.

In defense of flying the flag on his home gate, Schaeffer writes in an e-mail to Gruber, "It's a way to feel close to John while he's a world apart. It is a way to tell every person in the military family we are proud of them. It's not a 'left wing' or 'right wing' symbol ... it's our family saying, 'We love you' to John and all our sons and daughters who wear the uniform."

Schaeffer comments on the anti-war movement and his own struggle with the moral justifications for war with Iraq, but ultimately he questions Graber about the use of the words "moral" and "immoral" when discussing America's involvement with the war. he demands, "Where do these concepts come from in your naturalistic and secularized view of the world? ... Does morality come from a majority vote? When Hitler got the backing of 13 million voters, did this make his actions more 'moral' than if he had not had a majority vote?"