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Jul 4, 2008 9:08 pm US/Eastern
Father, Son Return Home From Iraq
BOURNE (WBZ) ―
A father and son on Cape Cod WBZ visited last Fourth of July, as they were getting ready to deploy to Iraq, are back home in time celebrate the birthday of the nation they served.
Mike and Tom Kelley are enjoying this Independence Day more than most.
Their service is a profound statement of sacrifice for love of country above self... beyond even the cherished value of family, home and life together.
Sitting on his back deck under milky sunshine, Mike Kelley told WBZ's Ron Sanders, "We did sacrifice a lot and coming back, we see what we sacrificed. We appreciate a lot more, I think, what's here and what I do have and what Thomas has."
This Fourth of July, the Kelleys had family and friends gathered in the best place on earth...home. And they had each other.
Tom Kelley told Sanders about his dad, "I've been really close with him, especially over there. He's someone I can talk to 'cause he's been through what I've been through."
Mike and Tom Kelley deployed together with the Army National Guard's 169th Military Police Company but served in separate parts of Iraq for the past year. "I worked with a lot of Iraqi police officers over there who called me brother and treated me like a brother," said Mike, "and I know they would lay down their life to protect me."
Mike, a Bourne Police detective, says he would do the same.
So does his son, Tom, a Plymouth County Sheriff's dispatcher, joining the soldiers' tradition as old as the nation. "I'm one of those people who put my life on the line, ready to die for them. It's nice to be part of that," said Tom.
Mike looked upon his son and said, "He's a fine young man...I'm very proud of him. It brings a tear to my eye when I start thinking about it and how proud I am."
Mike and Tom Kelley give proof of the American promise made in the Declaration of Independence on this day in 1776, "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and sacred honor."
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