Photo By Sgt. Jessica Etheridge | Chief Warrant Officer 3 Milton W. Hoss and his wife, Gina N. Hoss, share insight into...... read more read more
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CAMP SCHWAB, OKINAWA, Japan – While still an enlisted Marine, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Milton W. Hoss deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He left his wife and new born daughter back home in Okinawa, Japan.
“During my first deployment my operation tempo was through the roof,” said Hoss a motor transport maintenance officer for Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. “Lucky for me though, I was able to have an unclassified phone that allowed me to call home every once in a while and talk with my wife and my daughter.”
Hoss spent almost a year in Afghanistan away from his family.
“Our first daughter (Sierra) was 18 months old when he left for Afghanistan,” said Gina N. Hoss, a native from Minneota, Minnesota. “I was by myself in Okinawa raising a child and it was those connections I had made with other military wives through activities and programs that helped get me through.”
Being apart for so long was a new experience for the Hoss family, according to Gina. It had an emotional impact on the homecoming.
“As soon as Sierra recognized her daddy, she took off running into his arms and would not let him go,” said Gina. “She had not seen her dad for almost a year, and it made my heart melt to know she still remembered her father. To see her react the way she did made the homecoming go very smoothly.”
Hoss spent a lot of time away from home during his 18 years in the Marine Corps. That has not stopped Gina, Sierra and their newest child, Maddison, from enjoying their time with him, according to Gina.
“It was a different kind of first relationship for my wife and me,” said Hoss a native from Marshall, Minnesota. “It worked out for both of us though. I knew the moment I saw her with my friends, she was going to be the women I was going to marry.”
In 2001 Gina and Hoss got married and Gina made her first big move away from home to Okinawa, Japan.
“You marry a Marine, you marry the Marine Corps. There is no reason to hate it,” said Gina. “We have had a good experience. That is why he is still in. It is not just his decision. It is our decision, and together we fight just like every couple. You just have to keep going.”
| Date Taken: | 03.18.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.23.2016 20:10 |
| Story ID: | 193222 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Hometown: | MARSHALL, MN, US |
| Hometown: | MINNEOTA, MN, US |
| Web Views: | 470 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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