"This week, as the Senate debates military spending, I will be pressing to advance key elements of our Military Families Bill of Rights. When I do, I want to enter into the Senate record stories from families that know firsthand the hardships that our troops and veterans so willingly take on to keep America strong."
"Dear "pie",
Yesterday, I wrote you about a contentious foreign policy debate going on in the Senate this week. It concerns the Bush administration's insistence on advancing the careers of John Bolton and others who have failed to make our nation as safe and secure as it should be.
To me, it makes little sense to stand up for those who have not made our nation safer and more secure. But what should be beyond debate is the need for America to fully honor its commitment to those who do make America safer and more secure every day -- the men and women of our military.
They put it all on the line for us. So, why do some in Congress -- including those who are most vocal with their "support our troops" rhetoric -- want to hold back on helping our soldiers and their families?
Those who have stood for us should know that we stand with them, today and always. Share the story of a family you know that has endured hardship in service to our nation.
http://www.johnkerry.com/action/shareyourstory.php
This week, as the Senate debates military spending, I will be pressing to advance key elements of our Military Families Bill of Rights. When I do, I want to enter into the Senate record stories from families that know firsthand the hardships that our troops and veterans so willingly take on to keep America strong.
I hope you will take just a few minutes right now to share a story from your family or your community. It's one way you can personally help them get the support they so clearly deserve.
http://www.johnkerry.com/action/shareyourstory.php
We can begin by increasing the financial support military families receive. We can help them meet the increased expenses every military family faces when a loved one is deployed. We can extend military health insurance eligibility to all members of the National Guard and Reserve, whether mobilized or not. As many as one in five of them don't have health insurance right now.
Whether it's families here at home who can no longer pay their bills with their modest military salaries ... or children left without health insurance because a reservist parent lost his or her coverage ... or health care expenses going through the roof for an injury received in the line of duty ... or simply being unable to afford a hotel room to be by the side of an injured loved one recovering from battlefield injuries in a V.A. hospital...
Any way you look at it, too many military families face challenges that we ought not to let them face alone.
Our Military Families Bill of Rights will stand by our brave men and women in uniform. And it will lend support to their families. Here's another example. Our Bill of Rights will extend from 180 days to a full year the amount of time a family that has lost a loved one in combat can keep living in military housing. Isn't that the least we can do?
Let's give voice to our values. Let our troops and veterans know just how much you appreciate their unbelievable sacrifices. Share your personal story right now. I know it will help.
Thank you,
John Kerry
http://www.johnkerry.com/action/shareyourstory.php
Paid for by Friends of John Kerry, Inc.
Full Version: Active Military families
Common Ground Common Sense > Issues that Affect Our Lives > U.S. Military Issues > U.S. Military Issues Archive
Thanks, Pie.
Very Good Topic Pie!!
Military families feel the pressure of duty, separation
Chaplains handle psyche, difficult times
By MAURA SATCHELL
msatchell@dnj.com
Allyson Abbott sits at her desk with photos of her husband, James, a National Guardsman who is stationed in Iraq.
Uncle Sam has found itself in the unenviable position of playing matchmaker these days, and the military brass is doing what it can to keep service members' marriages together.
With the dual wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 1 million troops have rotated in and out of Iraq alone in the past two years, and many service members have been deployed twice and some even three times. The time away from home and in harrowing situations causes excess stress on service members' relationships. Divorce rates in the military jumped dramatically after the Gulf War, and officials don't want a repeat.
"One in five married soldiers sent off to war will get a divorce," the U.S. Army reported in January. To address the strain that deployment puts on relationships, the Army set aside $2 million for a wide range of marriage programs, such as marriage retreats, romantic getaways, counseling and free baby-sitting to help their service members cope.
Chaplain Lt. Col. Peter Frederich, director of Fort Benning's Chaplain Family Life Center, said deployments are stressful on not just the service member, but on the soldier's family as well.
Troops and their spouses go through various stages when faced with a deployment order, and those tensions and difficulties continue until the spouse returns home. They are emotional, monetary and physical.
Maj. Kevin Wilkerson is Tennessee's full-time support chaplain for the U.S. Army National Guard. He counsels troops and their families from pre-deployment until they return home from Iraq or Afghanistan. The chaplain speaks from experience when he talks to folks about to deploy or to their families. He was in Iraq with the 168th Military Police Battalion based in Lebanon for 15 months and returned home in May 2004.
Lt. Col. Ron Strahle, the statewide Family Readiness officer for the Tennessee National Guard, refers individuals and families to Wilkerson for counseling at times "to work with families of soldiers deployed and with families and soldiers that have come back," he said.
In addition, people call him to help them communicate with their deployed soldiers, not in an emergency, because the Red Cross is the contact for that, but just to help them cope, since he can contact the soldier's chaplain in-theater.
He gave an example of one such call. A mother of a newly married soldier heard he was wounded, but because her son was married, she was not the individual updated on his injuries, and a fellow soldier was killed in the accident.
Wilkerson interceded on her behalf, contacted the chaplain who was in the unit with her son and received an update on her son, which he shared with the worried mother. He also passed on a message to the chaplain to have the son call his mother.
"She's comforted in the knowledge that he's in good care, and he's being reminded of his responsibility to communicate with mom," Wilkerson said.
Some spouses of deployed reservists and national guard members do not use military-based support networks. For some, it is a matter of geography, the chaplain explained.
"Our Tennessee Guard's geographic disbursement is pronounced," said Wilkerson. "There's a degree of loss and connection and social support."
Allyson Abbott hasn't had any exposure to the military before.
Abbott is a 28-year-old lawyer whose husband of two years, James Abbott, is a National Guardsman. He is in Iraq with L Troop, 3/278th Regimental Combat Team, operating from Forward Operating Base Cobra, which is located three hours northeast of Baghdad near the Iranian Border. He's been deployed since October.
They've been married for less than three years, but the 35-year-old guardsman went into the active duty Army when he was 18. After fulfilling his active-duty contract, he signed on for a stint in the guard. He's been serving for 17 years now as a citizen-soldier and was going to end his service this January. Unfortunately, deployment orders prevented it.
James served in the Gulf War, but this time, because he's married, Allyson said he found it much harder to leave.
Because they are so newly married, Allyson never got indoctrinated into the military culture.
The stress has taken a toll on her. She said she has a hard time sleeping at night and has frequent nightmares. It is understandable since the 278th lost two service members in the past few weeks in Iraq.
Allyson practices law within the Eischeid Law Office at 131 N. Church St. and said she is very thankful to have a burgeoning practice to keep her busy. She communicates with her soldier husband about twice a week or so, either by phone or e-mail.
Allyson gets help from her church and, of course, family. She was on the phone one recent night for an hour and a half with her mother-in-law, who shares her worries.
Community and family support pulled another deployed service member and his family through during his recent time in Iraq too.
In mid-March, Marine Lt. Col. Jim Rose returned home from Iraq where he served seven months as the commander of the 4th Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, based at Camp Taqaddum, Iraq. There he oversaw a unit that kept the country secure during the Iraqi elections in January, among other things.
While gone, his wife managed to keep the house and care for the couple's four children. Rose was stationed with his reserve artillery unit in Al Anbar Province, the westernmost province in Iraq in the Sunni Triangle bordering Syria.
The Roses attend St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, and their children go to school there. Rose said he never realized how much everybody cared about his being deployed and leaving the family behind.
"They came out of the woodwork," he said of the church and school community and neighbors and friends.
Wilkerson and his unit got plenty of support, he said, but with unintended, somewhat painful consequences.
In addition to having served in Iraq, Wilkerson was in the emotional trenches himself there. In fact, he still gets choked up when he recalls it, and he has to halt, regroup and find the words.
It was Valentine's Day 2004, and he was deployed with his Lebanon unit in which there was a big burly guy from Alabama, Chris Taylor. Wilkerson's daughter's school, St. Edward School in Nashville, "adopted" his unit and sent it nearly 500 pounds of necessities and goodies over the duration of the unit's deployment. On that day, the burly Alabaman proudly showed off three Valentine cards he'd received from Wilkerson's daughter and two friends of hers, Wilkerson said.
Two days later, that "monster man, 6-foot-6, 300 pounds of solid rippling muscle," was dead. A bomb exploded in the vehicle and Taylor died, but he saved the lives of all of his fellow troops.
Wilkerson did not have to relay the news to the young man's mother, but through the stateside chaplain who did, he learned that she wanted to know who was with her son when he took his last breath. She named the names of the guys he'd spoken about to her, and in fact, all had been there and were saved by Taylor's actions. Wilkerson had the others from her son's unit call her and share with her about her son's heroism.
"His death struck a blow to everyone in the company and in the battalion," Wilkerson said.
"The next day, I went to Taylor's room to see how his friends were holding up. There on Taylor's bunk were the three cards. He kept them and hadn't pitched them like most everyone else had. I wept at the sight while taking great joy in the thought that one of the last acts of human kindness and encouragement he received came from the third-graders at St. Edward's School, and my daughter was one of them."
Wilkerson went to St. Edward's when he returned to the states in August and spoke to the children. He told them of the burly young man from Fairhope, Ala.
"But I had to allow them to see the tragedy of war" too, he said.
"They smiled and laughed approvingly when I told them about how he blushed at the mention of third-grade girls. But they grew quiet and sullen, eyes tearing, when I told them how he died and how the image of those three Valentines, laying on his bunk, persists in my mind," he said after a pause.
Originally published April 25, 2005
http://dnj.midsouthnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/.../504250310/1002
Military families feel the pressure of duty, separation
Chaplains handle psyche, difficult times
By MAURA SATCHELL
msatchell@dnj.com
Allyson Abbott sits at her desk with photos of her husband, James, a National Guardsman who is stationed in Iraq.
Uncle Sam has found itself in the unenviable position of playing matchmaker these days, and the military brass is doing what it can to keep service members' marriages together.
With the dual wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 1 million troops have rotated in and out of Iraq alone in the past two years, and many service members have been deployed twice and some even three times. The time away from home and in harrowing situations causes excess stress on service members' relationships. Divorce rates in the military jumped dramatically after the Gulf War, and officials don't want a repeat.
"One in five married soldiers sent off to war will get a divorce," the U.S. Army reported in January. To address the strain that deployment puts on relationships, the Army set aside $2 million for a wide range of marriage programs, such as marriage retreats, romantic getaways, counseling and free baby-sitting to help their service members cope.
Chaplain Lt. Col. Peter Frederich, director of Fort Benning's Chaplain Family Life Center, said deployments are stressful on not just the service member, but on the soldier's family as well.
Troops and their spouses go through various stages when faced with a deployment order, and those tensions and difficulties continue until the spouse returns home. They are emotional, monetary and physical.
Maj. Kevin Wilkerson is Tennessee's full-time support chaplain for the U.S. Army National Guard. He counsels troops and their families from pre-deployment until they return home from Iraq or Afghanistan. The chaplain speaks from experience when he talks to folks about to deploy or to their families. He was in Iraq with the 168th Military Police Battalion based in Lebanon for 15 months and returned home in May 2004.
Lt. Col. Ron Strahle, the statewide Family Readiness officer for the Tennessee National Guard, refers individuals and families to Wilkerson for counseling at times "to work with families of soldiers deployed and with families and soldiers that have come back," he said.
In addition, people call him to help them communicate with their deployed soldiers, not in an emergency, because the Red Cross is the contact for that, but just to help them cope, since he can contact the soldier's chaplain in-theater.
He gave an example of one such call. A mother of a newly married soldier heard he was wounded, but because her son was married, she was not the individual updated on his injuries, and a fellow soldier was killed in the accident.
Wilkerson interceded on her behalf, contacted the chaplain who was in the unit with her son and received an update on her son, which he shared with the worried mother. He also passed on a message to the chaplain to have the son call his mother.
"She's comforted in the knowledge that he's in good care, and he's being reminded of his responsibility to communicate with mom," Wilkerson said.
Some spouses of deployed reservists and national guard members do not use military-based support networks. For some, it is a matter of geography, the chaplain explained.
"Our Tennessee Guard's geographic disbursement is pronounced," said Wilkerson. "There's a degree of loss and connection and social support."
Allyson Abbott hasn't had any exposure to the military before.
Abbott is a 28-year-old lawyer whose husband of two years, James Abbott, is a National Guardsman. He is in Iraq with L Troop, 3/278th Regimental Combat Team, operating from Forward Operating Base Cobra, which is located three hours northeast of Baghdad near the Iranian Border. He's been deployed since October.
They've been married for less than three years, but the 35-year-old guardsman went into the active duty Army when he was 18. After fulfilling his active-duty contract, he signed on for a stint in the guard. He's been serving for 17 years now as a citizen-soldier and was going to end his service this January. Unfortunately, deployment orders prevented it.
James served in the Gulf War, but this time, because he's married, Allyson said he found it much harder to leave.
Because they are so newly married, Allyson never got indoctrinated into the military culture.
The stress has taken a toll on her. She said she has a hard time sleeping at night and has frequent nightmares. It is understandable since the 278th lost two service members in the past few weeks in Iraq.
Allyson practices law within the Eischeid Law Office at 131 N. Church St. and said she is very thankful to have a burgeoning practice to keep her busy. She communicates with her soldier husband about twice a week or so, either by phone or e-mail.
Allyson gets help from her church and, of course, family. She was on the phone one recent night for an hour and a half with her mother-in-law, who shares her worries.
Community and family support pulled another deployed service member and his family through during his recent time in Iraq too.
In mid-March, Marine Lt. Col. Jim Rose returned home from Iraq where he served seven months as the commander of the 4th Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, based at Camp Taqaddum, Iraq. There he oversaw a unit that kept the country secure during the Iraqi elections in January, among other things.
While gone, his wife managed to keep the house and care for the couple's four children. Rose was stationed with his reserve artillery unit in Al Anbar Province, the westernmost province in Iraq in the Sunni Triangle bordering Syria.
The Roses attend St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, and their children go to school there. Rose said he never realized how much everybody cared about his being deployed and leaving the family behind.
"They came out of the woodwork," he said of the church and school community and neighbors and friends.
Wilkerson and his unit got plenty of support, he said, but with unintended, somewhat painful consequences.
In addition to having served in Iraq, Wilkerson was in the emotional trenches himself there. In fact, he still gets choked up when he recalls it, and he has to halt, regroup and find the words.
It was Valentine's Day 2004, and he was deployed with his Lebanon unit in which there was a big burly guy from Alabama, Chris Taylor. Wilkerson's daughter's school, St. Edward School in Nashville, "adopted" his unit and sent it nearly 500 pounds of necessities and goodies over the duration of the unit's deployment. On that day, the burly Alabaman proudly showed off three Valentine cards he'd received from Wilkerson's daughter and two friends of hers, Wilkerson said.
Two days later, that "monster man, 6-foot-6, 300 pounds of solid rippling muscle," was dead. A bomb exploded in the vehicle and Taylor died, but he saved the lives of all of his fellow troops.
Wilkerson did not have to relay the news to the young man's mother, but through the stateside chaplain who did, he learned that she wanted to know who was with her son when he took his last breath. She named the names of the guys he'd spoken about to her, and in fact, all had been there and were saved by Taylor's actions. Wilkerson had the others from her son's unit call her and share with her about her son's heroism.
"His death struck a blow to everyone in the company and in the battalion," Wilkerson said.
"The next day, I went to Taylor's room to see how his friends were holding up. There on Taylor's bunk were the three cards. He kept them and hadn't pitched them like most everyone else had. I wept at the sight while taking great joy in the thought that one of the last acts of human kindness and encouragement he received came from the third-graders at St. Edward's School, and my daughter was one of them."
Wilkerson went to St. Edward's when he returned to the states in August and spoke to the children. He told them of the burly young man from Fairhope, Ala.
"But I had to allow them to see the tragedy of war" too, he said.
"They smiled and laughed approvingly when I told them about how he blushed at the mention of third-grade girls. But they grew quiet and sullen, eyes tearing, when I told them how he died and how the image of those three Valentines, laying on his bunk, persists in my mind," he said after a pause.
Originally published April 25, 2005
http://dnj.midsouthnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/.../504250310/1002
BRING THEM HOME NOW!
Is a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel, reservists and others opposed to the ongoing war in Iraq and galvanized to action by George W. Bush's inane and reckless challenge to armed Iraqis resisting occupation to "Bring 'em on."
Our mission is to mobilize military families, veterans, and GIs themselves to demand: an end to the occupation of Iraq and other misguided military adventures; and an immediate return of all US troops to their home duty stations.
The truth is coming out. The American public was deceived by the Bush administration about the motivation for and intent of the invasion of Iraq. It is equally apparent that the administration is stubbornly and incompetently adhering to a destructive course. Many Americans do not want our troops there. Many military families do not want our troops there. Many troops themselves do not want to be there. The overwhelming majority of Iraqis do not want US troops there.
Our troops are embroiled in a regional quagmire largely of our own government's making. These military actions are not perceived as liberations, but as occupations, and our troops are now subject to daily attacks. Meanwhile, without a clear mission, they are living in conditions of relentless austerity and hardship. At home, their families are forced to endure extended separations and ongoing uncertainty.
As military veterans and families, we understand that hardship is sometimes part of the job. But there has to be an honest and compelling reason to impose these hardships and risks on our troops, our families, and our communities. The reasons given for the occupation of Iraq do not rise to this standard.
Without just cause for war, we say bring the troops home now!
Not one more troop killed in action. Not one more troop wounded in action. Not one more troop psychologically damaged by the act of terrifying, humiliating, injuring or killing innocent people. Not one more troop spending one more day inhaling depleted uranium. Not one more troop separated from spouse and children. This is the only way to truly support these troops, and the families who are just as much part of the military as they are.
Bush says "Bring 'em on." We say "BRING THEM HOME NOW!"
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
Very good site, tells it like it is - for sure! No "SHRUB" propaganda!
Is a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel, reservists and others opposed to the ongoing war in Iraq and galvanized to action by George W. Bush's inane and reckless challenge to armed Iraqis resisting occupation to "Bring 'em on."
Our mission is to mobilize military families, veterans, and GIs themselves to demand: an end to the occupation of Iraq and other misguided military adventures; and an immediate return of all US troops to their home duty stations.
The truth is coming out. The American public was deceived by the Bush administration about the motivation for and intent of the invasion of Iraq. It is equally apparent that the administration is stubbornly and incompetently adhering to a destructive course. Many Americans do not want our troops there. Many military families do not want our troops there. Many troops themselves do not want to be there. The overwhelming majority of Iraqis do not want US troops there.
Our troops are embroiled in a regional quagmire largely of our own government's making. These military actions are not perceived as liberations, but as occupations, and our troops are now subject to daily attacks. Meanwhile, without a clear mission, they are living in conditions of relentless austerity and hardship. At home, their families are forced to endure extended separations and ongoing uncertainty.
As military veterans and families, we understand that hardship is sometimes part of the job. But there has to be an honest and compelling reason to impose these hardships and risks on our troops, our families, and our communities. The reasons given for the occupation of Iraq do not rise to this standard.
Without just cause for war, we say bring the troops home now!
Not one more troop killed in action. Not one more troop wounded in action. Not one more troop psychologically damaged by the act of terrifying, humiliating, injuring or killing innocent people. Not one more troop spending one more day inhaling depleted uranium. Not one more troop separated from spouse and children. This is the only way to truly support these troops, and the families who are just as much part of the military as they are.
Bush says "Bring 'em on." We say "BRING THEM HOME NOW!"
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
Very good site, tells it like it is - for sure! No "SHRUB" propaganda!
Thanks, Marine and Bammo for resurrecting this topic, which had fallen like lead into the archives when I posted it.
It is nice to hear that our service men and women are being treated (in some cases) just like everyone else. Decent housing, child care, good food- necessary discounts.
I hate this war, and it is based on lies, but I have nothing but compassion for our service men and women. We should all be offering support to these individuals in any way that we can.
It is nice to hear that our service men and women are being treated (in some cases) just like everyone else. Decent housing, child care, good food- necessary discounts.
I hate this war, and it is based on lies, but I have nothing but compassion for our service men and women. We should all be offering support to these individuals in any way that we can.
I did not grow up in a military family. My biological father had polio but did
work for the WWII effort stateside, civilian. My step-father served in WWII- D-Day - and was scarred for life but this was far before I was born. I saw only the lifetime of mental suffering from being in a major combat zone. My hubby threw his name into the Nam draft his senior
year of college but was not called up- his number was not called.
Anyway, I am fascinated by your stories, all. And, Marine, I am seeing a softer side of you here-
isn't it interesting that, depending on the topic, we all show different sides of our multi-faceted personalities. Damn- this is good forum !
work for the WWII effort stateside, civilian. My step-father served in WWII- D-Day - and was scarred for life but this was far before I was born. I saw only the lifetime of mental suffering from being in a major combat zone. My hubby threw his name into the Nam draft his senior
year of college but was not called up- his number was not called.
Anyway, I am fascinated by your stories, all. And, Marine, I am seeing a softer side of you here-
isn't it interesting that, depending on the topic, we all show different sides of our multi-faceted personalities. Damn- this is good forum !
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