Family - - Page 2

Meet Benjamin Joshua!

Army Life, Beliefs, Family / By Derek Creason

On Friday January 27th, 2017 at 12:32am, My 4th child was born. Benjamin Joshua Creason. He is a pretty cool little kid and he is doing well. Both him and mom are back at home and settling in nicely. Here are a few pics.

As many people know, I like to keep the names of my children a secret until they are born. This is usually for a few different reasons. Mostly its just fun and adds to the excitement. For our 4th child, we chose to honor some soldiers with the naming of our son. Here is the meaning behind his name.

Benjamin. Benjamin’s 1st name was in honor of a fallen soldier named Seargent First Class (SFC) Benjamin Wise. SFC Benjamin Wise died January 15, 2012 from injuries sustained in combat days earlier. You can read a pretty in depth expose’ on him and his family and watch a 4 part video here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/2014/01/18/one-family-two-sacrifices/

I asked a friend of mine who knew Ben personally and had deployed with him to tell me what he meant to him.

“Ben was what I would call, the personification of the quiet professional. He was my team leader in the scout platoon way back when, and he never really yelled much. At times I wondered if shit hit the fan if he’d be any good, but he was, much more than others. When he decided to go SF (Special Forces), he didn’t make a big deal out of it like most others, he just did it. If people saw him working out or rucking afterwards and asked him why, he just said he was training for selection. He didn’t lie about, but he never boasted about. He was one of the smartest people I know. He got 18d (Special Forces Medical Sergeant) which is retarded hard, and his language was Mandarin Chinese, the hardest language to qualify for. Even when I saw him in passing up in Washington, he remembered everything about me. He genuinely cared about people. I’ve had leaders and friends I’ve looked up to, and every single one has failed me. But he never did, and he is still my role model as a leader, soldier, and father. End state: smart, empathetic, quite professional, good God fearing man.” – SFC Joshua King

My Response to Josh was that he “Sounds like an awesome guy. Everything we could hope and strive to be as leaders ourselves. I’m bummed I never had the opportunity to meet him.” Josh agreed as well and stated, “Yah, if I ever had a boy, he’s what I would want him to grow up to be. Doesn’t necessarily have to be in the military, just have that work ethic and personality.”

SFC Benjamin Wise had earned the following awards and medals.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze star Medal, the NATO Medal, three Army Commendation Medals , three Army Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, four Iraq Campaign Medals, three Afghan Campaign Medals, Global War on Terror Service Medal, two Overseas Service Ribbons, three Non-commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbons, Army Service Ribbon, Special Forces Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge and the Parachutist Badge. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star Medal, Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medal.

Benjamin’s first name is in honor of a great fallen warrior. An American Soldier, through and through.

Benjamin’s middle name is Joshua. This is in honor of my best friend Sergeant First Class Joshua King. I have known Josh since we were both in kindergarten. We grew up together, although most often far apart by many states. We always stayed in touch through the years and visit each other often when we are in the same town for a few minutes at a time. I got the opportunity to be his best man at his wedding. During my toast to him and Luana, I got to explain a little bit of how Josh’s leadership has been an example to me. Now I can expound on it some more here.

My friend Josh joined the Army right after high school. He is still in and serving proudly. He has deployed 3 times to Iraq and is prepping for his 4th deployment. He has also been a Drill Sergeant and earned his Sapper tab. He recently was promoted to Sergeant First Class (E-7). While I was off at college earning my undergrad, he was working his way up through the infantry gaining experience in Iraq.

Josh is a super fun and easy going guy. He’s a no nonsense get the job done kind of guy who loves to be silly and crack jokes along the way. He embodies two aspects of character that I strive for. Bravery and the Never Quit mentality. If you ask Josh, he would probably deny having these traits. He would just say that he’s doing his job and embracing the suck. Josh continues to go when called for deployments. He is an 11B which is an InfantryMan. For those of you who don’t know, the Infantry have the hardest job in the Army. They get to do what other people don’t want to do or wish that they could do. He’s gone to Iraq 3 times. He’s fought in many battles. He’s lost fellow soldiers.

Josh has also completed some very tough schools in the Army. He became a Drill Sergeant and passed Drill Sergeant school. He passed Sapper school. He has attempted others schools such as Ranger school and Selection (Special Forces) and not quite achieved those goals he has for himself. This aspect is where I have learned much from him. I have had many conversations with him after he failed a high speed school such as Ranger school. I asked him, “How do you deal with failure? Especially when you wanted it so bad and trained so hard for it? Josh’s answer was simple. He said, “You give yourself a day or two to completely mope around, feel sorry for yourself, be sad, be mad, whatever. Then you get up the next day, and get back at it.” The mindset was simple. Experience setback, even major life or career setback, get over it, and get back up and go again. I have watched Josh experience this a few times for a school that he really wants. It has been devastating to him at times. But I also saw him get back up and go to work the next day and do his best to achieve the next tasks that are given to him. That is the essence of the never quit mindset I spoke of. To get back up each day and start again. No matter how good or bad the previous day was.

Josh is also the bravest guy I know. None of my other friends joined the infantry and did 3 tours in Iraq. Josh would just say he was doing his job and got to shoot cool weapons. But it takes some courage inside of you to volunteer for a dangerous job like that and then to go out and do it over and over again. His willingness to serve and his ability to go do a very difficult job was one of the reasons that 8 years later, I went and enlisted in the Army myself. I hope to honor his bravery by doing the best that I can and learning to exhibit a never quit attitude during the hardships I face in the military. He is an excellent Non-Commissioned-Officer (NCO) and a leader as well a great friend to get to know.

Both SFC Benjamin Wise and SFC Joshua King are great men who love God, their families, and their brother’s in arms. They exhibit extremely high class character traits that I hope and strive to achieve in my personal life. In naming my son after them, I hope to honor them and remind myself to teach my son how to embody those character traits as he grows into a man.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. -John 15:13

Later,
Derek

Caroline is 1 year old!

Caroline, Family / By Derek Creason

Caroline is one year old today.

This last year has seemed to go by both very quickly and very slowly. After having two toddlers who are now pre-school and elementary aged, I had forgotten what life with a newborn was like. The last year has been a very accurate reminder.

Caroline has a very interesting personality. She is a super happy baby and loves to play with her brother and sister. However, if she’s tired or not getting her way, she will definitely let you know. If I thought my first two kids were strong willed, Caroline has shown me that my definitions were way wrong. She can be very opinionated/stubborn sometimes! She is walking really well these days for just having started about 12 days ago. She loves electronics and wants to be in the same room as other people. She has no fear and will climb up and on anything she can reach. She is alot of fun at this age and I can’t wait to see who she’ll grow into as a kid and later adult.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her.
Happy Birthday Caroline, I love you. – Dad

My Dad

Beliefs, Family / By Derek Creason

So I’ve had these thoughts in my head for quite a few years and just never took the time to translate them to keyboard or paper. I’ve written a lot of thank you notes and done a lot of thoughtful things for people in my head, but I’ve never been good about follow through. It’s the thought that counts right? Well not today. Today I write.

It’s Father’s Day.

So rather than hear this at a eulogy some day (God forbid), I want everyone to know that my Dad is awesome and here’s why.

I’ve learned many things from my Dad throughout my life. Many of them I didn’t understand until I became a father myself. Some I listened to, and some I didn’t. Some of them I’m still working on digesting and applying to my life.

First is his faith. My dad is a God fearing Christian Man. I love that about him. I remember him teaching me about right and wrong growing up. I saw him get up and go to work every day to provide for my family and provide me with a quality Christian education. I attribute that education to much of my success. I remember him getting my family together at bed time to read the bible as a family. And while I often didn’t pay attention, when I reflect back now, the leadership choices of him directing his family to take time (even if only for five minutes a day sometimes) and read the bible together shows his character and priorities.

I remember one year on new years eve, I had friends over and the new year had just rung in. Being a teenager I was excited and was talking about how I was going to watch a episode of Conan to ring in the new year. He made a joke like “Lame” and said “I’m going to go ring in the new year reading my Bible.” I then watched him go to his office in the basement with his Bible and proceed to do what he said. I’ve never forgotten that moment ever. I remember thinking, I hope some day I can be that devoted to reading my Bible and living for Christ.

I also remember when working on projects with my dad, he would have me go out to his van to get his toolbox so we could fix whatever we were working on. I would climb in his van and his passenger seat usually had the following items on it: A clipboard with work notes and mileage info on it, a spy novel, a theology book, and his Bible. Later on I found out that he liked to read on his lunch breaks in between taking service calls.

Having had occasional discussions regarding theology with my Dad, I’ve realized he has come to a good understanding of the Bible and his theology he uses to study it. It guides his life and I believe it has brought him many blessings. He is a man of principle and many of those principles come straight out of God’s word. My dad is by no means the perfect Christian, nor would he claim to be. I imagine if you asked him, his answer would probably be similar to mine in that he’d say, “I mess up every day. But I’m still here, so I’ll keep going and try to do better tomorrow.” I’m grateful for the example my Dad has shown me in his faith. I hope to imitate it and teach it to my children as they come of age.

Some other things my Dad has taught me:

My dad taught me to never be a bully. He always talked about how he hated bullies. I don’t know if he was bullied or not as a child, but he had strong feelings regarding it and he made it known. No child of his was ever going to be a bully. Anytime I did something remotely close to bullying somebody, he disciplined me greatly and made sure I knew it was unacceptable. He taught me to stand up for people. I believe this is probably where I get my overwhelming sheep dog desire to protect and serve others. I may not be the biggest or the baddest, but I know right from wrong and I’ll not hesitate to protect the innocent. These feelings I have regarding serving and protecting others greatly influenced my life as I went into Police work and later serving in the Army. My dad made sure I knew right from wrong, and not to stand for certain injustices. I’m grateful he taught me these lessons and the principles it instilled in my life.

My dad also taught me about work ethic. I watched him work for over 30 years as I grew up. He wasn’t lazy. He never skipped work unless he was severely ill. He went to work every day, sometimes at jobs he despised. He taught me to work hard, but not too hard. He taught me that it’s important to go to work to provide for your family, and to do a good job. But he also taught me to not take work too seriously, as it’s just a means to an end. Careers aren’t everything. I saw my dad get screwed over by a company that bought out his company after many years of working his way up. I learned a valuable corporate life lesson that day at my father’s expense. I’ve learned to be successful like my father, but I also don’t take work as the most serious thing ever in my life.

I’ve also learned from my dad that it’s important to take time to relax and go fishing. My dad loves to go fishing. It’s his way to get away from the world. He enjoys it. He always has stories to tell about fishing. Some of my favorite times have been going on trips with my dad to go fishing. Now, I’ll let you know that I suck at fishing. I’m about as good at fishing as my dad is at keeping a lawnmower functional. I usually only go once or twice a year, but when I do go I’m with my dad. He always has a spot for us to go and a new bait or lure for us to try. Even if it’s only for an hour or two. It’s an incredible way to get away from your life. Park the car and walk a half a mile down to the lake and have a good time. Sometimes we catch fish. Most of the time I don’t. There are always laughs to be had and stories to tell. We curse the fishing line together as it gets tangled in-explicably. I almost always lose a lure to tree-bass or log-bass, or rock-bass. Sun burns and mosquito bites are common, and it’s usually over way too soon as our busy lives call us back to the real world. But fishing trips with my dad are some of my favorite memories.

In summary, I want people to know what kind of man my Dad is. He’s taught me many things and I hope to live up to his example one day. He’s honestly my best friend, and who I like hanging out with the most. Hobbies, vacations, yard work, you name it, I love spending time with my dad. I respect the hell out of him.

And when you read this Dad, I want you to know 3 things from the bottom of my heart.

1. Thank you!
2. I love you!
3. Let’s go fishing soon!

Love,
Derek

Belle is 4 Years Old!

Belle, Family / By Derek Creason

Belle is 4 years old now! Life is going by crazy fast.

I remember rushing home over a 4 day weekend from active duty to see Belle right after she was born and then having to go right back out to Georgia. I love watching her grow up. Belle is very opinionated, yet also very caring. She is clumsy and often lives in her own world, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Her random questions will always surprise you and she is very fun to hang out with one on one. Here are some of my favourite pictures of her.

Happy Birthday Belle, I love you. – Dad

Jack is 6 years old!

Family, Jackson / By Derek Creason

Today is my son’s birthday. Time seems to be speeding up the older I get.
2008 seems like such a long time ago.
Jack is in kindergarten now. Watching him learn new things is quite amazing.

I can’t believe how good he is at reading.
I laugh at how juvenile and boyish his humour is. I can’t imagine what he’ll be like in jr. high.

He makes me want to be better for him.
I often feel like I am too hard on him.
He pushes me to be a better dadeven though I don’t always know how to do that.

I can’t wait to see what adventures life takes him on.
Happy Birthday Jack. I love you. -Dad

Here are some of my favorite pictures of me and Jack.