When David Diebold learned his mother was being deployed to Afghanistan and would not be back until after his high school graduation, he did what any mature child of military parents does. He swallowed hard and accepted it.
As children, Diebold and his older brother, Michael, twice experienced the domestic upheaval familiar to so many military families when their father, Col. C.J. Diebold, chief of behavioral health at Tripler Army Medical Center, was deployed to Iraq.
This time it was his mother, Col. Karen Burmeister, chief of pathology/laboratory services at Tripler, who was called to serve as command surgeon for U.S. forces in the region.
Diebold’s friends and family knew he was disappointed but that he would be all right. Like Michael, Diebold was a successful student (4.3 GPA) and had earned a black belt in karate. He was also the starting goalkeeper of ‘Iolani School’s varsity soccer team and a member of its lacrosse squad.
But sons are sons and moms are moms, and Diebold couldn’t help feeling the absence as his graduation grew near.
“I was excited to graduate, but I also felt that something was missing,” Diebold said. “I was sort of down.”
On graduation day, as the roll of graduates was called to the stage to pick up their diplomas, the speaker paused just before reading Diebold’s name.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh no, what did I do?’” Diebold recalled. “But then when he said there was a special guest and mentioned Afghanistan, I realized what was happening.”
Diebold, overjoyed, burst into tears as Burmeister emerged from where she’d been hiding behind some potted plants. In the audience, C.J. Diebold looked on in stunned disbelief.
Unbeknownst to Diebold and his father, Burmeister’s administrators in Afghanistan had made arrangements for her to return to Hawaii a few weeks early. ‘Iolani counselor Todd Fleming had choreographed the surprise reunion.
Burmeister presented Diebold with his diploma, a bracelet she had earned for completing a Spartan race in Afghanistan and a lei made out of camouflage material. She also presented the school with an American flag she had flown over the U.S. Forces headquarters in honor of ‘Iolani.
“It was just amazing,” David Diebold said. “You see videos of these things, but when it happens to you …”
In the fall he will leave for Santa Clara University, where he will study biomedical engineering. Next year C.J. Diebold and Burmeister will both retire, each with 34 years of active-duty service behind them.
For now, at least, the family is enjoying the afterglow of a most memorable reunion.
For a video link and further background on this story, check out @incidental lives on Twitter.
———
Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.
