I am currently on active duty in the U.S. Navy and returned just the past week from a six-month deployment in the Middle East. Throughout the deployment, I endured many changes and new experiences, especially for a guy who grew up in Jasper, AL. The particular moment that I am writing to you about happened to me four months into the deployment, a point where I was really missing home, but at the same time gearing up for my return and the upcoming football season that began immediately before my return. Being halfway around the world, and as far from Auburn as I could be I had to go out and show my true colors of orange and blue as best I could. Therefore, I wore my All Auburn All Orange T-shirt from last season, while in port in the Island country of Bahrain. On the day that I wore my AU T-shirt, I took a shopping trip to the local mall. Walking trough the mall browsing at all the stores, engulfed by Arabic People in traditional Arabic clothing I stood out like a sore thumb… but I didn’t care, and it turned out to be a very good thing. While walking past a store and glancing into the shop window I heard “War Eagle!” I looked up and saw a middle-aged American man wearing a suit simply smiling at me. I responded with my own “War Eagle!” In such a random environment and on the other side of the world, it was not what either of us expected to hear, but based on the smile on his face, I think it meant as much to him as it did to me to hear the words we all associate with the place we love, Auburn…HOME!
Caleb