My name is SPC Christopher Blanton. I received TDY orders to Fort Meade, Maryland for 5 months. I have two sons, Tucker (2 ½) and Mason (1 ½), and a wonderful wife that stayed behind in Fort Bragg, North Carolina while I was away.When our first son Tucker was only 19 days young I deployed to Afghanistan for five months. This trip was very difficult because my boys are at the age where they understand that I am not there. We were able to Skype almost every weekend, talk on the phone very regularly and stay connected in each others lives. Over Labor Day weekend, my wife and I were able to surprise our boys with me coming home. As you can see in this video the bond that I have with my boys only became stronger while we had distance between us. My family is my life and I am so happy to be back with them.
