[mrnoodle]

my dad was in the navy in the 50s. He and my mom had just been married, and he had taken the bus from Norfolk to Texas to pick her up so they could move to Norfolk together. They had just gotten back into town (on the bus, with everything they owned in 2 suitcases) and had rented an apartment when dad said "I need to check in at the base." Ya know, leave was over, etc. Well, he got to base and his CO told him he was almost late, to get aboard X ship by Xhundred hours, he was going to north Africa for 6 months to 2 years. He had to borrow the change to call the house phone at their new apartment to tell mom he wasn't coming back from checking in.

Talk about no warning. So mom, pregnant by the way, got on a bus bound for home. Dad's ship got 50 miles off the coast and blew an engine, forcing them to scrap the mission and come back to Norfolk. He got back and called bus stations all the way along the route until he found the one my mom was at. Their landlord drove my dad halfway to Texas to pick up my mom.

Happily ever after, etc. etc. But surprise deployments are nothing new.