Life of Dad American Heroes – Captain Joseph Quirk

Tommy Riles
June 24, 2012

Tommy Riles

Lives in: Los Angeles
Occupation: Comedian & Audience Warm-up, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Life of Dad Founder
Twitter: @tommyriles
Facebook: 575811228

View profile »

Here at Life of Dad, the social network for dads, we like to feature heroic dads who serve our country, as well as their family.  Today we honor Captain Joseph Quirk, of the United States Marine Corps.

Joe is a husband, father, and helicopter pilot in the Marines.  Currently in Afghanistan, Joe makes sure he goes above and beyond to be a remembered presence in his son Caleb’s life.

From the time that he found out his wife Andrea was pregnant, Joe was an amazing dad.  When Andrea was 20 weeks pregnant, they found out that Caleb would be born with a serious congenital heart defect (CHD) called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS).

Throughout the remainder of the pregnancy, Joe was always positive about Caleb and his condition.  It wasn’t a matter about what his son “might not be able to do”, it was about the great things that “he would do.”  During the pregnancy, Joe also had to answer to the USMC and he was unfortunately gone often during those nine months. Joe did not let his absence stop him from making sure he knew exactly how Caleb was developing.

Caleb has had 2 open heart surgeries so far to “rework the plumbing” of his heart since he was born with only “half of a heart.”  Joe has thankfully been able to be at both surgeries and stay throughout the entire recovery.  During the surgeries, Joe was an unwavering source of support to Andrea, and he does not leave Caleb’s side.  Even when Caleb was 3 days old and having his first open heart surgery, Joe was reading Dr. Seuss books to him and rocking him to sleep.  Joe goes from a rough Marine by day, to a loving Daddy and husband at night.

We’ll finish with the words of Joe’s wife, Andrea:  “Joe is truly amazing and we are happy that we will be welcoming him home in the next couple of weeks.  He cannot wait to get home to Caleb and all Caleb talks about is “Daddy Home?” It will be so great to have my 2 favorite men back together again:)”

Joe, thank you so much for all that you do for your amazing family, and our great country!

*Congenital Heart Defects are the number one birth defect in the world, to learn more, please visit The Children’s Heart Foundation.

 Do you know an American hero we should feature on Life of Dad?  If so, e-mail me at tom@lifeofdad.com!

Join Life of Dad, the first ever social network for dads!

[Back to Ramblings]