With his newborn son in need of a life-saving heart transplant, Maj. Hal Sellers faced a seemingly impossible decision.
Take a desk job with the Marines in Twentynine Palms
So he could be with his ailing baby
Or be deployed to the Middle East with his unit.
Sellers, a 13-year veteran of the Marines
Who is his unit's second in command,
Chose to serve overseas.
"It was not an easy decision to make,
But I felt it was the right decision to make,
" Said the 37-year-old Sellers
During a recent television interview from Kuwait.
"I joined the Marine Corps. voluntarily
And not just for those times when it's easy."
Baby Dillon, who was born with a heart that was unable to pump blood,
Got a transplanted organ on March 12.
Doctors say he's recovering well. So well,
The ruddy infant was sent home in the arms of mom, Betsy, on April 17.
Betsy Sellers said it was difficult not having her husband
By her side as 6-month-old Dillon struggled near death
For months and finally got his donor heart
Just days before the war began.
But she said her husband worried
That bringing in a new leader for his unit
So close to battle would not be good for the troops.
"It would have liked to have had him here
And have had his support," She said. "But at the same time,
I'm proud of his decision and what he is doing."
Betsy kept her husband up to date of their son's progress
Via intermittent telephone calls,
Even as his battalion of 700 Marines
Known as the Wolf Pack was among the first to move from Kuwait into Iraq.
One of Maj. Sellers' calls came just after
The baby's four-hour operation
At Loma Linda University Medical Center in California.
"He was concerned until he got word that surgery was all completed,
" Betsy Sellers said. "But he was very much relieved."
There is no word yet on when dad
Will be able to leave the battle
To establish a new Iraq to see his son,
Who continues to fight for his health.
But his wife hopes to have him home soon.
Until then, she continues to whisper
Her husband's heartfelt message to their son: "Daddy loves you."
