Honor, courage and commitment

UNITED STATES

12.12.2016

Story by Chief Petty Officer Jeremy Wood 

Defense Media Activity - Proper         

DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. – Navy Chief Petty Officer Robin Day and her late husband, Gene Day, were going to retire together.
Instead, she and others honored his memory at her retirement ceremony Dec. 3 at Navy Operational Support Center Atlanta here.
A framed photograph of Gene Day in uniform on the last day of his deployment to Iraq rested on a table near the stage. Next to it was a glass-fronted box containing Robin Day’s awards, to which a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal was added during the ceremony.
In front of the box were two folded American flags – one for each of them.
“Robin, once more, we thank you for the leadership, guidance and selfless devotion that you demonstrated over these last 24 years,” Navy chaplain Lt. Alexandria Geovanni said. “And we remember Gene – acknowledging that when a person dies, the relationship with those they love remains, the legacy lives on in those they’ve touched.”
Robin, of Horseheads, New York, joined the Navy in 1986 and served on active duty until 1994. Wanting to be someone her son could be proud of, she joined the Navy Reserve in 2001 and became an intelligence specialist.
Gene enlisted in the Army out of high school in Maryville, Ohio, and served for 12 years on active duty. He became a member of the Navy Reserve in 2001, choosing a rating, master-at-arms, that was similar to military police, his previous occupational specialty.
The Days were introduced by Gene’s best friend in 2003. However, they didn’t really meet until about six months later.
“You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen,” he told her. Just like that, they started dating, and they married a year later, on Dec. 31, 2004.
The Days were inseparable, and the Navy was a huge part of their lives. They drove together to drills, had lunch together and left together. When they moved because of his civilian job, they made sure to keep drilling together.
They considered themselves to be a lucky couple, Robin said. Serving together was special to them.
Gene and Robin inspired each other, said Senior Chief Petty Officer Jason Ford, who served with Robin as a petty officer and today is the senior enlisted leader of Naval Forces Europe-Africa/6th Fleet Detachment 802 at NOSC Atlanta.
“In fact, in the wake of Gene’s passing, Robin embraced naval core values with a deeper purpose,” Ford said.
Her vision of her role as a chief petty officer more clearly encompassed the sacrifices that Sailors make and what it means to serve with honor, he said.
Gene was easygoing but stern when he had to be with his sailors, Robin said. He loved the Navy, and he served with pride.
“Both being chiefs, we had the same idea – that helping others reach their goals was so important,” she said. Her hope is that they were able to share their trials and tribulations, and successes and failures, so their military brothers and sisters, regardless of rank, could understand what it takes to be a leader in the best military in the world.
Gene, who didn’t smoke or drink, was never sick, his wife said. He went to the gym religiously and could run 1.5 miles in about 8 minutes, well below the minimum time for his age group.
He died of an artery blockage on March 1, 2012, his official retirement day, and was buried in the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton.
In the 4 1/2 years since her husband’s death, Robin’s outlook has changed.
“There is nothing now that is so important that it can't wait,” she said. “If there’s something in the sink that needs to be washed, so what? Life and loved ones are where it’s at.”
She recently moved to a home in the Great Smoky Mountains, in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she lives with her dogs and a cat. She remains close to her mother and her son.
Every Sailor has a North Star, Robin said. Her mother is hers.
There are things she and Gene used to do together that she simply can’t do any longer, Robin said. She can’t bring herself to go to the movies or ride a Harley.
Grocery shopping, which the Days always did together, is excruciating, she said.
“But it’s OK,” she said. “I had the perfect man for me, and I still have him in my heart.”
Traveling was another thing the Days loved to do together. Robin said she hopes to take a trip to Ireland, Scotland, and Norway in the spring.
She will go alone and see the world through the eyes that Gene found so beautiful, keeping him close in her heart.


Story by: MCC America Henry
Submitted on behalf of Defense Media Activity for NR Navy Office of Information Commander, Naval Forces Europe.
For: Department of Defense Media Awards 2016.
Original post found on Facebook.

• Date Taken: 12.12.2016
• Date Posted: 04.13.2017 14:04
• Story ID: 230283
• Location: US