Please help my kids KEEP their Dad

My name is Otto and I have started this account on my son's behalf. He is going through a very nasty divorce and his attorney feels that, while unlikely, any donations he receives to his own accounts may be fair game to his X during the divorce proceedings. All donations will come through my bank and be dispersed directly by my wife and me to his lawyer and the temporary care of his children if and when he goes back out to sea.

This is his story:

My name is Matt: MadDog to my shipmates. For the last 15 years, I have served in the United States Naval Submarine fleet either on a nuclear sub or teaching the art and science of nuclear power at the nuclear reactor prototype school in upstate New York. I am currently a Petty Officer First Class on a nuclear submarine stationed in Oahu, Hawaii. I supervise a group of guys that keep the nuclear reactor running. While on my first tour in Oahu, I became very close to a woman who had a 2-year-old son from a previous marriage. We were married in 2016, and shortly after, I adopted her son. He is my son now and forever; that will never change. We had 3 additional children, and my family was the center of my world.

In early June 2024, my life took a sudden turn for the worst when my wife, hereafter referred to as 'X', returned from a trip to Colorado Springs and announced she wanted a divorce. You can imagine my total shock, confusion, and the total destruction of my world. In late July, divorce paperwork was filed, yet X refused to leave the house. We live on base, and I was informed there was nothing I could do about it. By September, it came out that for the last year, X had been having an affair; she was taking the kids to Colorado to get married to her current fling. I have since discovered the infidelity had been going on for a few years, with multiple guys, often during my deployments at sea. I was utterly blindsided by this discovery and confused about a great many things. We appeared to be a stable family unit. Her refusal to leave was creating a stressful and toxic environment for both me and the kids. The pre-decree divorce hearing was not until late October. At the hearing, she was given three days to get out of the house. We were given temporary shared custody (I get the kids 4 days, she gets them 3). I was ordered to pay half of my salary to her in child support, and we were ordered to go to mediation, which failed miserably as she would accept nothing but full custody of the children so that she could move to Colorado. Obviously, this was not good with me.

Over the past 7 months, I have submitted three separate shared custody parenting plans. She has rejected them all. She has spent the time, in every way she can imagine, gaslighting our young children, telling them I am an evil man they will never see again, telling them that mommy is taking them to Colorado and their new "Daddy" will take good care of them, accusing me of neglect, abuse, incompetence, etc.; anonymous reports to police, my command staff, Navy NCIS, and Hawaii child welfare services. The last one in January resulted in the kids being taken from both of us --minus any kind of due process, I might add--. My father came down from Arizona and was given temporary custody while it was all investigated. He lived in my house on base with the kids while I stayed with a friend from my sub. At the hearing, the accusation was found to be completely baseless, and the children were returned to our care. Every other accusation has been summarily dismissed and or found baseless. In the best interest of the kids (my father would have ripped me a new one had it been otherwise), I have chosen at all times to take the high road. Not once have I ever made a disparaging remark about their mother around the kids. However, fighting all of this has left my finances depleted. My father is here for the summer to help while the kids are out of school, and my parents have dipped into their retirement accounts to continue funding my legal fees and help with the children. However, that cannot continue as their retirement accounts are quickly shrinking.

I have asked my attorney to file a motion to set trial. This is going to be very expensive, but I don't see any way around it. The trial calendar is 8-12 months out, and "X" has drained my resources with all her BS games. I have been cleared of all accusations, but this case is not over yet, and she continues to play her games. The last motion, filed two weeks ago, the judge warned her and her attorney about abusing the courts. Barely a slap on the wrist for X, and it still cost me money to have my attorney there. I am ashamed and embarrassed, but I am at the end of my rope. Any help you can offer will be used for attorney fees and for the care of my children if and when I go back out to sea. The professional strain on me is equally severe; managing this litigation alongside my duties to the Navy threatens my career progression and perhaps even my commitment to the Navy. If forced to choose, it's not a contest. I stand here now asking for your help; I am not entitled to it but truly need your help. Every dollar counts and will make a difference to my current mission: preserve some semblance of normalcy in my children's lives while I continue to serve our country and focus on ending this horrible nightmare. The Navy has been amazing and supportive through all this, but at some point, I have to get back to my boat or terminate my, till now, spotless Navy service; 4 years shy of retirement. It is through your generosity and compassion that I can continue this fight, ensuring that my children have the stability and love they deserve while I work to maintain my career and honor the commitment I've made to serve our country. Please consider helping me, MadDog Matt, in my fight to keep my kids.

Please Help My Kids Keep Their Dad

If you can't help, that's OK. I am blessed that you read it this far. Perhaps you could forward my message to your friends.

A quote often used by submariners that sustains me:

"When you go through deep waters.....I will be with you"

Isaiah 43:2

Thx, MadDog Matt