A bitter winter wind prevents families from lingering on the pier as sailors board the guided missile destroyer USS Mahan for deployment. Trent Davidson’s mother zips up his sweatshirt and cups his teary face in her hands for a last kiss, and then his father scoops him up and begins the long walk back to the parking lot. The oldest of the Corpsman Leslie Davidson’s three boys, Trent, 8, is carried by his father Brock until the family is well beyond the ship. “Hold hands,” Brock instructs his three sons, and Trent takes the hand of his brother Connor, 4, so they can cross the street safely.

“It’s just the boys,” announces Brock as they head towards the car. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do now. It’s gonna be a whole lotta Daddy.”

“The minute I walked away, I started thinking about Leslie and what she’s feeling. I can’t even imagine how she feels right now,” says Brock as he secures his two youngest sons into car seats in the back. Trent slouches in the front seat, his head bowed to his chest. This will be the longest time the boy has been away from his mother, and the act of saying goodbye seems to have affected him the most. “They have a really special bond. He’s really opened up to her,” explains Brock. “I think he has a harder time because he’s old enough to understand what’s happening.”