{"id":10084,"date":"2023-05-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=10084"},"modified":"2023-05-12T06:50:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T06:50:14","slug":"history-making-soldier-extraordinary-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=10084","title":{"rendered":"History-making Soldier, extraordinary father"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Photo courtesy of the Cavazos family
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas <\/strong>\u2014 General Richard E. Cavazos has been called many things by his peers including mentor and hero. However, Laura Blevins, Katherine Cavazos, Rebecca Cavazos and Tommy Cavazos simply called him, Dad.<\/p>\n

The siblings spoke about the Installation Redesignation Ceremony when Fort Hood was officially redesignated as Fort Cavazos after their late father on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very beautiful ceremony, especially our VIP speakers, Colonel Tucker and of course General House,\u201d said Rebecca, the third child of Cavazos. \u201cIt was emotional. It reminded me that Soldiers from my dad\u2019s battalion in Vietnam would come down from everywhere and celebrate my dad\u2019s birthday. He started having some dementia \u2014 they came anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura, the eldest, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the only way that I ever learned of any of Dad\u2019s relationships or being in the war,\u201d she said. \u201cThe men he served with would tell me, \u2018He saved my life. If he hadn\u2019t have gotten the helicopter there, I wouldn\u2019t have survived.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Laura Blevins, Katherine Cavazos, Rebecca Cavazos and Tommy Cavazos watch as the new Bernie Beck gate sign that now reads “Fort Cavazos” is unveiled during the Installation Redesignation Ceremony May 9, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Kim Hernandez, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs)
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Hearing stories about her father was important for Katherine, the second child of Cavazos, since he never really talked much about his experience at work with his children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really showed how much he loved his Soldiers,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think as a child growing up in the military I ever understood that. But as an adult that\u2019s fundamentally what serving in the military is about. It became very evident that when these men came from all over the United States every single year (for his birthday). I had never heard these stories. He would never talk about anything and certainly never brag about anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what Cavazos would think of the ceremony if he were still alive today, they all said he didn\u2019t really like attention due to his humble nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would have hated this,\u201d said Tommy, the youngest. \u201cBut hearing from all of the Soldiers who served with him (shows) how important it was to them. We resisted at first, but the dedication and the service and the faith they showed him for so long and the love \u2014 it\u2019s a debt that we can never repay. We\u2019re glad that, for them, that they have this way to honor and remember him and pass his legacy onto others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katherine said her father maybe would have struggled with the attention because of his serving heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s why my father wouldn\u2019t have liked this ceremony because he was a server,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard when you have that serving heart to receive it back. So sitting here today it\u2019s awkward for me personally, that people are so nice and wonderful and warm because I want to serve them. I feel that same debt and that mentality of always serving others is drilled into my head. Thank God it is because the world needs more of it and it\u2019s in fairly short supply, but that is in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to their father\u2019s career, they were all born at different military installations and moved around the world and the United States frequently. The siblings said they were given a ten minute warning before they had to get in the car and travel to a new place. Though it was challenging, their goal was to make sure they remained together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was eye opening to me when I heard about other people that would stay in one place so their children could graduate because that was never on the table,\u201d Katherine said. \u201cThe whole family must get in the car, change schools \u2014 it was never discussed that the family would be broken apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t realize it at the time, but being an Army brat would prepare them for challenges they would face as adults.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI lost my husband a little over five years ago and about two or three months into it I realized I was fine,\u201d Laura said. \u201cIt started to scare me. I thought, \u2018What is wrong with me? There\u2019s something wrong.\u2019 Of course I love my husband. We had a good marriage, he was gone and I was just moving on. It took me another three months then it suddenly came to me like a flash \u2014 the Army. All that moving and starting over and starting over and starting over, my brain just compartmentalized. It\u2019s a little sick, but when I recognized what it was I could relax with it and realize this is just my brain trying to deal with the change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebecca shared her own experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had cancer twice in 2015 and had to go through the usual cancer routine,\u201d she shared. \u201cWhen I was told I had cancer I first thought to myself, \u2018Well, what are you going to do? You can\u2019t undo cancer. What are your options?\u2019 Again that little voice in my head said, \u2018You keep going.\u2019 That\u2019s how I approached my recovery. That became my mantra because a lot of times that\u2019s all I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katherine said their constant relocating allowed them to see the world in a way that many others will never have the opportunity to. She said it was very different from her father\u2019s experience growing up because he had never left Texas before joining the Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat an incredible window to the world that other people don\u2019t get,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n

Laura said her dad never brought work home with him, making sure to leave his boots at the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was completely different in his job than he was when he came home,\u201d Laura said. \u201cI think we were his home, maybe not when we were teenagers, but it was his sanctuary. It was one thing he did not have to control.\u201d<\/p>\n

The siblings reminisced about his love of fishing, hunting and bird watching, as well as some more sentimental moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was about to go to college and we came up to South Texas, I guess to visit family, and he took me fishing on King Ranch,\u201d Laura recalled. \u201cMen from that generation, they don\u2019t talk about personal things, but he came over (to me) and he sat down. So, we\u2019re both sitting there with fishing poles and I was even going, \u2018What is going on?\u2019 He looked at me, and this is about as emotional as he would probably get with me, and he said, \u2018You can always come home.\u2019 I finally figured out he\u2019s telling me no matter what I do, or if I get myself in trouble I can come home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebecca recalled returning home from college after a rough time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne time I was coming home from med school and I was bummed out,\u201d she said. \u201cI had exams and not much sleep, so I was pretty burned out. He picked me up at the airport and we\u2019re driving back to the house \u2026 and I was laying with my head against the window. My dad talked to me \u2026 and he said, \u2018You know Becky, at the farm we have the ducks swimming in the water, \u2026 When you\u2019re stuck, you just think about those ducks.\u2019 It was really good advice. Be in the moment. Be where you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katherine laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still say that to each other, \u2018Just think about those ducks,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

They also talked about some funny memories of their father and how nothing stopped him from doing what he was passionate about including a time when he tripped and injured his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was bleeding profusely as head wounds will,\u201d Rebecca said. \u201cSo, he gets a kitchen towel and some duct tape, duct tapes the kitchen towel to his head and drives from Leander to Fort Hood, to Darnall (Carl. R. Darnall Army Medical Center), to get stitches because he had to be here for something.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also recalled, at Laura\u2019s wedding, that their dad\u2019s soldiering instincts kicked in when some stinging caterpillars conducted an air assault on the big day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden from the live oaks all these caterpillars were dropping, the stinging ones, dropping all over,\u201d Katherine said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t want the caterpillar stains on (Laura\u2019s) dress. He didn\u2019t want people getting stung \u2026 so we were on duty to get rid of the caterpillars. This was so him. He was like, \u2018No, you\u2019re doing it all wrong. You have to stab and sweep otherwise they don\u2019t die and they make a mark there and people step on them.\u2019 Right before he walks (Laura) down the aisle, stabbing and sweeping caterpillars.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Gen. Richard E. Cavazos was laid to rest in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio. He passed away Oct. 29, 2017, at the age of 88. (U.S. Army photo by Blair Dupre, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs)
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Cavazos passed away on Oct. 29, 2017, at the age of 88 from complications due to Alzheimer\u2019s. He was laid to rest in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas, in a simple pine box surrounded by loved ones.<\/p>\n

The siblings said that their father was very private about his experiences in the Army, but they love hearing things from those who worked with him. Many stories they have heard have come from chaplains.<\/p>\n

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\n Honor guard Soldiers carry the casket of Gen. Richard E. Cavazos during a ceremony held at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetary in San Antonio Nov. 14, 2017. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Garrett Ralston)
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\u201cHe was a faithful man,\u201d Katherine said. \u201cMany chaplains have stories and were friends of his. We would have dinner with them and they would tell stories of administering to dying men and my father being there. His faith got him through those times of extreme loss. The chaplains would always talk about that, that he could see God in the worst of moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though they know he was a commendable Soldier, to their family, he was an extraordinary man.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother always said \u2026 as she was becoming more aware that she was losing her memories \u2026 she said, \u2018Your father was such an extraordinary man, such an extraordinary father,\u2019\u201d Katherine shared. \u201cI said, \u2018I know. I know.\u2019 She said, \u2018He came home from two wars and remained gentle and that was extraordinary.\u2019 And it is. He was gentle and loving and never wavered from that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo courtesy of the Cavazos family (Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of the Cavazos family) VIEW ORIGINAL FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014 General Richard E. Cavazos has been called many things by his peers including mentor and hero. However, Laura Blevins, Katherine Cavazos, Rebecca Cavazos and Tommy Cavazos simply called him, Dad. The siblings spoke about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10086,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10084"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10092,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10084\/revisions\/10092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}