That is so sad, I am a Military widow, my husband was in the AF for 22 yrs. He passed away last year of cancer.  But I remember the time's he was deployed, years ago, Korea and Vietnam.  That is what a military wife does, hold her family together and go on with her life, as difficult as it may be.  May God Bless all the Military in our country.

May God guide this brave young lady as she carries on, raising her child, honoring her husband's sacrifice.  
As my 20 yr. old grandson trains at Ft. Campbell, Ky, I wonder if we as a nation will be there for him and for this young woman and her child, and those returning from duty changed forever?  I wonder if our government will be there to support them, help them rebuild their lives, to heal from their experience?

Remembering what his grandfather returned to following three tours in Vietnam, I am skeptical.

His great grandfather, a decorated Marine who served in WWII in the Marshall Islands, wondered too.  Just before his death last month, he said that his great grandson didn't have enlist, he said, "That's why we did what we did, so they wouldn't have to."  He loved this country, believed that they had fought "the war to end all wars".  

Yet here we are sending new generations into harm's way.  My question to the President, the Senate and Congress, and "we the people" is:  will you be there for all of those who serve, those who love them and wait for them, now and after they have followed your orders?

Get this thing done, now, once and for all.  Put everything into it and end it.  Or pull out and face the same consequences as those faced after Vietnam.  Get Bin Laden!  He is responsible for the 911 attacks!

Honor them all and make this the last war.

The sacrifices of immediate families are the tip, the hurt goes beyond to the cousins, the in-laws, the friends, the former co-workers and the even the acquaintances left behind not only by the military member but also by the contractors who also (as so recently proven by the security guard/mother @ Hood) are all over the world.

The sad truth is that most of America has no idea what the military goes through on a daily basis.  It is "life as normal" for 3/4s of the country while the military and their family members shoulder the burden of not 1, but 2 wars. Service members and their families are asked to endure training separations, frequent moves, mental and physical exhaustion from dealing with deployment after deployment, and in this young girl's case, death of a loved one. Unfortunately, as she stated, her case is not unusual.  If there is some good that can come out of the horrible tragedy at Ft. Hood let it be that the rest of the nation opens their eyes  and recognizes the tremendous sacrifices of the military community.

Thanks for this moving story.  This is the sad reality of this war that involves regulars, reservists, and National Guard soldiers.  Past wars were fought largely by conscripts, usually single young men who left behind parents, girlfriends, or maybe a young wife.   Now, entire families are being affected by the loss of a husband or wife, father or mother, as well as sons and daughters.  And, the pain will go on for a very long time in the future.  May it all be over soon.

I know this well. I was pregnant with our twins when my fiance was killed in Iraq. It went 4 months before we found out, and we were informed Christmas Eve. Our daughter was 3 at the time, and our twins are thriving. Although they ask about Daddy a lot. This is heartbreaking but its the side of war no one wants to see.

The recent shooting and deaths of innocent people at Fort Hood is such a tragedy! May God give the surving members of the victims's families, the strength to deal and cope effectively, with their loss/grief over time. I am also deeply disappointed in President Obama's lack of personal attention to this tragedy. I understand that he and Michelle Obama will attend the formal ceremonies tomorrow. However, I believe he should have gone to Fort Hood yesterday or even today, to speak with the soldiers, along with the family members of those were killed senselessly. He should have been there to listen, comfort, and speak words of encouragement. Come on President Obama, please smell the coffee, and connect with the people who have been impacted the most by this tragedy! Showing up tomorrow for the formal ceremonies is not nearly enough! Also, please bring our brave troops home now! There is no point in our soldiers fighting in countries where they are not wanted, while the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan are simply going through the motions, to make it look like they are really committed to fighting terrorists! Enough is enough! Please bring them home now, and use the money instead to help fix our economy and to create jobs!    

May god bless and be with all those serving and their families for the sacrifices they make for others.

my heart and prayers go out to this young mother and countless others just like her.  My future son-in-law just graduated marine boot camp, and my oldest son leaves for boot camp in february.  These young men and women (and their families) are so brave for stepping up to serve our nation and put themselves at risk.  It is such a high price to pay, and we as a nation should be eternally grateful and rally behind those left behind and treat our soldiers with the respect and admiration they so deserve.

I lost my husband in Iraq. His body returned but his mind never did. He's out there somewhere, on the fringes of society, lost to his loved ones. In a few decades he'll resemble the homeless Vietnam vets of the past. This new generation of homeless vets... is  another part of the story you don't get to see. They're not listed as casualties, not supported, not funded, not buried, not mourned by our nation.
Only by those of us who loved them.

MILITARY SPOUSE,

May god bless the united states and the outside. my spouse served in Iraq & afghanistan wars he's back but not with me. He's suffering from PTSD. He left our two sons and a home. he act as if we never existed
he's still in the same state As I am and helps me with the bills, but he's not the same spouse I married 25 years ago. I would never marry the military again. and for those of you who do GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR SUFFERING AND SACRAFICES THAT YOU WILL ENCOUNTER IT WILL DESTROY YOUR LIFE!

It is amazing that our Commander in Chief has not traveled to Fort Hood yet, however he traveled to Copenhagen to promote Chicago for the olympics. Former President Bush went there so for the time being at least a former Commander in Chief visited.
God bless all the military and their families. It is because of their sacrifice that we can write these e mails, and wake up still living in a free country.

As a military retiree from the Viet Nam era, I see the complete lack of understanding of military life in the communities where I live and work.  It is not something the majority of Americans know about because they don't know anyone who is in or has been in the service.  
During the draft years from WWII to VN, everyone knew at least one veteran and the horrors of war touched many families.  
In some ways I am glad folks don't know the trials of military families because it means, in general, there is less suffering as a nation.
I try to reach out to families near to me when there is a tragedy to let them know they are never alone.  Small comfort to parents, wives and children who have lost a soldier, sailor or airman, but it is all I can do.

It seems odd that obama had time to fly to New york to take his wife to a stage play and dinner, but he is "too busy" to go to Ft. Hood to talk to the families of those murdered.  President Bush is no longer in the white house,so there was nothing to be gained by his going, but HE DID.  Come to think of it, the troops probably appreciated seeing him more than obama.  
And Obama's speech at that Indian conference was TRULY DISGUSTING, GIVING A "SHOUT OUT" to his friend , and only LATER referring to the troops who were murdered. I thought I would never see a president worse than Carter, but I was WRONG.

just like  911 , we live in uncertain times . i am 75 ,and am not willing to condemn the Major  for anything other then murder ; trying to link him to al-quaeda and 911 is a total mistake . we have NO PROOF of "who did 911". i am a navy vet , no combat ,but have worked in the field of psychiatry in large private hospital, in the navy and a Veterans Hospital , Geriatric and Psychiatric vets.  I believe this was suicide by fire ,attempt.  working at walter reed for 6 yrs must have been hell . all those young paraplegics confessing for or against the war , and they wanted to send him to Afghanistan (for what?)  I grieve for all the families at Fort Hood and WTC and the Pentagon .But i cannot say that i am "Patriotic " regarding our Government since 2000/2001 to the present.  we ive in a sick society where Suicides are hitting us in the Military and the civilian population at a greater speed then ever before . The numbers mount in every direction ,across all borders of Society . The thievery among the BUSINESS world is such a DISGRACE . The WARs must end now , not any more men ,women ,children to the Middle East . We are no longer (if we ever did )fight the enemy "over there ,so they wouldn't come here . " WE are our worst enemies .. the old song ", THEY WILL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE , BY OUR LOVE ? " i also workrd in the delivery room at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital , Virginia ( 1953) .I saw so many young women having babies ,without families there to support them , Husbands off on ships . my idiotic smile was the only thing some of them saw , relating to friendliness ,but i never spoke. i was only 19 ,myself and came from a family with 10 siblings . i even had to carry a 12 pound ,still born to the morgue .which i will never forget . i have not matured  any since those days and remain as simple as i was  then .. I know how those young women felt , because i never went home for the hollydays ? there weren't any in my house .

We have an army at war and a nation that is not.

I'm an Army wife who also happens to be prior service; I deployed to Iraq in 2005.  I can say with absolute certainty that being a military spouse during a deployment is harder than being the soldier deployed - especially if there are children involved.  Thank you for sharing our story.

Everyone needs to realize the sacrifices that each and every family must endure in order for our freedom.  My son-in-law is is the National Guard and had to leave just one month after their wedding for boot camp So my daughter is a new bride and not knowing if after boot camp her husband may be deployed.  President Obama stand up and accept the possibility that these nations are going to be at war no matter what we do.  We need our men and women home to protect OUR nation  We should of ended this long ago when the 1st attack happened on the Trade Center How many of our men and women have to be sacraficed before you wake up and protect our people.

As a military wife, I think that the sacrifice does not start only with death. That is the ultimate and sometimes unfortunate end to all the worrying, stressing, and loneliness that is to be expected on the very minute that your Loved one chooses to sign their name on that dotted line.  Every day I wait and fear getting "THAT" phone call from him.  The one where he wants to know if his deploymment bags can be taken to his shop.  Pre packed like a labor bag at the ready.  I hide from it keeping it deep in the corner of the closet. Ugly green bag, a reminder.

When I heard of the tragedy at Ft. Hood, I immediately realized how connected I am to the military community of Ft. Hood..  My daughter and son-in-law stationed at Ft. Hood, but now in Iraq were reason for my husband and I to temporarily relocate to Killeen for periods of time to help with family matters interrupted by deployments, etc.  The days spent in Killeen and surrounding areas come back to me quite vividly and I remember with pride the multitudes of soldiers dressed in BDU's that we encountered everyday.  These are the ones, those whose names we do not know, the ones who sacrifice on a daily basis to cope with the demands of military life with little complaint and much valor.  God Bless the community of Ft. Hood, Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, etc. especially on this Veterans Day and all days until our freedom is securely won!!!

While I'm deeply saddend by all the senceless loss of lives fighting these two wars of not need but convenience I realize there is some need in it because WAR is big business there is money to be made here and abraud my father served two terms in Nam I was witness to His violent flashbacks as a very young child and if there is any thing I learned from Him its that they CAN NOT reinstate the draft if only "we the people" of this Great Nation would stop selling our bodys to the government this would all stop WAR would be gone! Peace and Love is the hope I have for my Child  

I certainly agree with the Army wife who states "The sad truth is that most of America has no idea what the military goes through on a daily basis.  It is "life as normal" for 3/4s of the country."  This is especially true for the majority of the political leaders, whose financial situation all but guarantees that their children will go to college, with no money worries, while the middle class youth join the military, not only because they are patriotic, but because of the college funds and enlistment bonuses they get when they can't find a job otherwise.  Wake up America.  Your 'normal' life is paid for by the military and their families.

My friend produced this in 1988 with permission of The Hollies.  It's now on YouTube.  Take a listen..and pass it on…to honor a Vietnam vet or the sacrifice of any veteran,
---http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GL6me-9OkE

Military life in general is sad with the deployments and just the sadness of life in general. Many of the families are poor and the kids don't have what they need. This is coming from an ex-military wife. I have lived at only one base but I have heard numerous stories from other wives. Bless this young woman, I have felt sad and lonely in a military town and I hope she goes back to her family.

How ironic that the majority of the responses to this article are by military spouses or families with loved ones lost or serving. The supreme sacrifice of selfless service by the soldier is matched only by the  uncomplaining burden of the family left behind to carry on with the courage to believe that a loved one's loss was not in vein.

This didn't affect the folks TX. I live in OH where my dear friend, after retiring from a 30 year career in the Army 2 years ago was met at the door by a team from Wright Patterson AFB informing us that he had 12 hours to be on his way to Ft. Hood. He is now an Aviation CDR since theirs was injured in the shooting and he is looking at potentially being deployed to "The Big A". I'm terrified even tho I too am a Veteran. Now we are trying to figure out what to do with the remnants of our life together, his job, etc. after having him ripped out of the picture.  I admire him for his ability to go with the flow and am trying to do the same....

I can relate I did two tours in Iraq with a Marine infantry unit from San Mateo Camp Pendleton. Lost a bunch of friends, prolly half were expecting, Also been there when they were born while we are overseas. I don't know how the parents, wives of the fallen carry on, sometimes I think they are stronger then the soldiers. When you come back a piece of you is left over there I think thats what i sacrificed personally.

Not to slight those who lost loved ones on 9-11, but, her's a woman who will have very little to compensate her for her loss. Even the service men and women themselves, let alone survivors of those killed,  have a bleak time of it, once disabled from service. This country has never allocated adequate resources to VA hospitals (and personnel) to meet the health care promises made to servicemen and women. Now we are about to make promises to those who never served, anyone, and those in our country illegally. Let's learn to care for our injured soldiers and the survivors of those killed in our service, before we presume we can keep these promises to the multitudes who have done nothing to earn them.

I am a Retired serviceman and I will say this
it takes a strong willed lady to stay married to
a serviceman  and the same for the men that
are married to service women..
  As I said it is a different Breed of Cat...
But I always figured I owed my God, Country and flag
for being born here...
  Two wars and I am Tired of the way things are
being done.
  I went in in 47 and still say we could have won Korea and Nam
Miller  Gilchrist, Oregon

Thank God this young woman is strong.My husband spent 20 years in the Marine Corps. It was the hardest years i have ever spent in my life.Our son was 15 months old before his father saw him. I kept showing him his father picture and telling him this is your daddy. When he saw his father at the air port for the first time he he ran stright to him and called him daddy. My husband cried. There was so many stories that entered my mind after reading  all the things people were writing, some happy some so bad.He retired Dec.1972 After being in viet nam twice.I have a grandson that has been to Iraq twice...He is in Fort Hood Tx. now.

I am a twice widowed older lady having two great beloved men die that served our great cause and what we used to refer to as Blessed America, which everyone wanted to be a part of.  Heart break, lonliness and the feeling of being forgotten for all of the long hard years put in with the armed services. Now have other members of my family serving this meaningless cause  with no light at the end of the tunnel and the outcome with the same hurt being felt all over again and again.  My heart goes out to all those brave men that have died, their families and loved ones. The woman and her unborn child, the young men that will never know love of wife or seeing their offspring. It is nonsense to believe we can win over the beliefs that are out there at the present level,against our nation and love of God and what our constitution was founded on.  May God bless us all.

God bless our brothers in arms and their families. We in Australia have been in every conflict with the US since well before WW2. As an Aussie Vietnam Vet,may I say we share your hurt and your burden. We have been beside you in Korea,Vietnam,Iraq and now Afganistan. Tomorrow 11/11/2009 we remember the finish of the WW1 where we lost the most percentage soldiers and sailors of any country by population. We will pray for your fallen as well as our own and for the brave widdow in your article.  Lest WE Forget.

It is hard for most Americans to get a tiny glimpse of what Military Families go through.  I get so many "Support Our Troops" emails.  They actually make me angry.  It is easy to pass emails, and go to Wal-Mart and by little plastic magnets to put on cars.  But what do people really do to support our troops.  For sure they don't want to encourage their young adults to join the military, "not my son/daughter".  These are a Military Families war, not America's war.

I wonder how many American's have added AN AMERICAN SOLDIER to their Christmas gift list?  Or AN AMERICAN SOLDIER to their to bake for list?  Or how about that Military family down the street who will have a loved one in the war during Christmas?  Do they have seats of honor around your dining table Christmas Day?

Support our Troops!!!!  How do you REALLY support our troops?  Think about it.

I am the wife of a very recently retired Marine. I remember quite well the days during the start of the war, when a formal military car would come into base housing with obvious military officials in it with a chaplain. All wives outside held their breath, and their children if they were nearby. We prayed for the car to pass our home by, but at the same time felt so badly for where it would stop. You would wait for the wailing, the crying of a wife being told at her front door that her husband was dead or horribly injured, and cry yourself.You steeled yourself to help your friend or neighbor who has gotten such horrible news, and wonder if you are the next one. You felt guilty because you were thankful that that official car HAD passed your home by.  If you were inside and the doorbell rang, your heart dropped to your toes... friends just tapped at the door, they didn't ring the doorbell. Only strangers ring the doorbell in base housing. Was this my notification, the beginning of my heartbreak. Luckily my husband made it thru unscathed, but we knew those that didn't and it was so hard. It still is, even just to remember. I know that he misses the Marines, but I am happy I don't have to go thru that anymore.

I am saddened upon hearing of the loss of one more member of our armed services, and I am extremely distressed upon hearing that "one of our own" was responsible for last week's massacre at Fort Hood.  It's time we investigated the mental health of all our of armed service members, lest we have a repeat of this most recent massacre.  

Army Wife/Leavenworth - I'm retired USAF (2003) and couldn't agree more with you. Sadly, many of the citizens that we volunteer to protect, often with our lives are at times seemingly unmoved by this reality that we face on a daily basis. And having been inundated with the numbing effect of daily news reports of constantly spiraling body counts it becomes all the more mundane for our citizens in general.

What they can't know is the loneliness and challenges of spouses left behind in a foreign environment often hundreds or thousands of miles from family to carry on during deployments and the crushing pain and emptiness when loved ones return disfigured, without limbs or worse in coffins. Despite all of this, our communities provide life-giving support and we carry on with our lives and duties as the cycle of sacrifice and service continues.  

What to make of the bigger picture? Simply put, the President, above and beyond anyone else is charged with legally and morally validating these sacrifices that are made for our country. As the Commander in Chief, it is he that ultimately sends us into harm's way as ambassadors of America and when he does, it must always be for a just and noble cause.

And the cause is not always clear to all of us. Obama has taken heat from Cheney and other armchair arbitrators for considering a draw down or pull out in Afghanastan recently. But I am no longer interested in Cheney's opinion. This is no longer his war. The American people have insisted that his administration passed it along to Obama and he alone (with the aid of his council) must decide in the end how we will fight it.

Obama brings a key attribute to the table that I believe will be paramount to success - the lost art of diplomacy. I'm not entirely sure what else is at stake at this point, only high ranking officials truly know that level of detail but he is burdened with ensuring that those who have sacrificed so much will not have done so in vain.

He must somehow finish what has been started and if remotely possible, deliver Osama Bin Laden (and his legion of followers), who murdered 3000 innnocent Americans and effectively changed our way of lives.

America has evolved over the last couple hundred years. Opinions, strategies and beliefs may change over time but one thing remains the same - we are all still in this together, citizens of the greatest country on the face of the earth. Despite our shortcomings and lack of perfection, America continues to represent hope for citizens of the world.

Our enemies have grossly underestimated the resolve of the American people. We have buried over 60,000 of our patriots on foreign soil demonstrating that resolve in the fight against tyranny and defense of freedom. The cowardly strike against us will only embolden our resolve.

We have sacrificed much but what we cannot and will not sacrifice is the "idea" of America. We will not live in fear. Cut and run is not an option - be it philosophically, militarily, diplomatically or otherwise, this is a war that we must all get behind and ultimately win as a nation.

As we reflect on upcoming Veterans Day, remember that our patriots (with the support of their comrades and family members) are committed to our security and our ideals and are prepared to sacrifice their lives if necessary to defend it.

And while we reflect on the many challenges faced by our current President, none will be more important to our country or relevant to his legacy than how he chooses to handle this situation - it is the issue of our time.

May God continue to bless our soldiers, their families and the President of the United States of America.

God Bless. Amen.

People sure are quick to say "God bless....... any number of the victims of any number of horrific acts or circumstances," but I fail to see how you can say that when god, who according to all of the major religions is omnipotent, saw fit to kill these people in the first place. The Lord works in mysterious ways, indeed.  "We're not meant to undersatand" is a weak cop out.

I was in the Navy during the Viet Nam era. Aboard a destroyer, we deployed every year for the five years I was on board.  Several trips to the Med and one around the world cruise was hard on our families, but we were expected to support our leaders in the decisions they made, whatever they may have been.  I know now that President Johnson did not do our military any favors and wasted many lives as well as dollars in pursuit of who knows what.  In any case, lessons were learned.  I support the military efforts in spite of the politicians and their lack of understanding of the toll it takes.  Somewhere down the road the politicians need to listen to the military as they know what they need to do the task they have been given to accomplish.  It's easier to do the work when you have to tools to do the job.

thank you Ms. Shamlian for the story, short but pointed.  I still remember the talk I got in '69, just six years old, explaining how I had to be the man of the house.  Most Americans still don't understand the cost of what is spent abroad.

I am a military widow, my husband passed away from the cancer brought home from 3 tours in Vietnam. He was in the Army for 25 years and I remember well the waiting with other wives and families and praying the "green sedan" didn't stop in our driveway. No one realizes the burden that military families bear and especially this "war" where the men and women face deployment after deployment with not a lot of time to rest and recuperate in between. The psycological damage that this does to the military man and also the family is sometimes irrepairable.  The men and women in Congress and the Senate don't care and neither does our President.  It is more evident all the time. They will not take care of out troops after they return and push them aside as soon as they possibly can as they have done time after time and are still doing.  These families suffer for the rest of their lives because of their extraordinary sense of patriotism and love for their country and their fellow man while the rest of the country goes about their business of going to the mall with no thought to the troops. It is so sad.

I am a veteran of the cold war although I am not a combat veteran; all veterans of all types should be remembered this Veteran's Day and we as a Nation should consider where this great nation is going.  Let's bring all our troops home from all around the globe and focus on the one thing we haven't focused on in years-us and this economy.  If we don't I fear the worst will happen just as it has from great nations of the past such as the Roman empire.  Write Congress; speak up; do your part in every way to save this nation or reap the consequences.

It is just mindboggling, while a true uncivil, civil war is being faught fiercely in the United States Congress, trying to solve numerous unsolvable homegrown problems, where the whole world listens and watches, most certainly atched and listened in Iraq and Afganistan where Americans die, with the US's claim to solve their problems where many innocent ones pay the price. I am absolutely certain that if the Founding Fathers were to rise and see their America in action at home and abroad they would weep bitterly. Yes, the American military might circles the globe and yet in the meantime America has been invaded by up to 40 millions of illegals. Yes, now their language is as legal as English. Teh US borders remain a disaster of disaster where illegals drugs flow in to satisfy the millions upon million of American dopeheads, right? America's unconstitutionally wants to solve others' problems while the internal problems become unsolable more and more. Yes, the true National Debt now stands at over 53 trillion dollars. A debt that cannot ever be repaid. Yes, wars add to this debt like a Niagara fall!

Yes, we are out there, everywhere.  I lost my wife of seven years in Iraq two years ago.  She was a new Army doctor fresh out of residency, thrown into a position which was way beyond her qualifications, replacing a more senior doctor at the last moment.  With little training and support, she had a nervous breakdown and took her own life after only a few weeks in country.  Although the Army treated her death as "in the line of duty" and took care of me as any other family survivor of a fallen soldier, the pain is unending.  I still weep every day even after two years time.  I think there should be a separate holiday for survivors of the fallen, and my heart goes out to all my fellow brothers and sisters in grief.

When I retired from the Navy, I paused to remember 8 others I personally knew who had not made it to retirement.  Families and friends were left behind as a result of their untimely passing.  Especially around times like Memorial Day and Veterans Day, I remember these people.  Fly the flag, thank a vet, and remember that true sacrifice is part of what Gen. Douglass McArthur identified as "Duty, Honor, Country".  Pres. John F. Kennedy remarked, just a few months before his own untimely death, "I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.'" Our own saying, for years, has been "Navy Wife: Toughest Job in the Navy."  For my own wife of 27+ years and all the rest of the military families past, present, and future, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!  

Congressman Walter Jones recently apologized for his vote in favor of the war in Iraq.  He said he knew at the time it was a vote of political expediency.  What prompted his public apology and recent hard line about new deployments?  Rep Jones was visiting with constituent family members at an elementary school filled with children of marines.  One child, with all the innocence and candor of a child, said to him something like "...but my Daddy's not dead yet".  May God have mercy on Dick Cheney and George Bush.  Not only are we bankrupting America for their many misadventures but we've taken a wonderful all volunteer military and all but broken that too. Who, in their right mind signs up for military service that means a constant state of perpetual military combat.  Even veteran soldiers didn't have to expect constant warfare.  And gosh, gee whiz, now we're talking about "only" sending reserves or national guard folks out once every four years....and here I thought that standard was supposed to be "once in a lifetime" at the most. Military family members also serve.  And as many veterans will tell you, once they have sons and daughters in harm's way, that is every bit the equivalent of another kind of front line.  I pray the deliberations on Afghanistan now under way will either give us a clear and definable military goal or lead us to have the courage to admit the limits of military solutions and work to make this world safer in other ways...especially for our military service members. (I'm not a pacifist. I grew up in a military family, surrounded by people who believed in the right of a country to defend itself-but I alsoremember, all too well, how all of us would leave the playground, scattering in all directions to run home if a "notification team" car turned into our neighborhood.  Because even if it wasn't a message for our family, it really was.)

Will the child or children of an unmarried couple receive any benefits from the service? Health benefits, education benefits if the service member is killed in the line of duty. It certainly seems that we should be responsible for the child's welfare and education when the mom or dad is lost to them.

As with so many stories of military life, this one touches the heart.  I am proud to read it, embrace it and honor all who serve and their families.  This young woman, and countless others, are a true representation of the spouses of military servicemen (and women).  Stand proud, be humble and go forward.  What we do today, matters for generations.  Let your loved ones know you love them, let the servicemen of this country know we stand beside them-FOREVER.

Please insert any branch of the military or Coast Guard in place of Soldier if you need to.
There is courage in A Soldier, you see it in their eyes.

There is loyalty in A Soldier, that they will not compromise.

There is something in A Soldier,that makes them stand apart,

There is strength in A Soldier,it beats from their heart.

A Soldier isn't a title any person can be hired to do,
A Soldier is the soul of that person buried deep inside of them.

A Soldier's job isn't finished after an 8 hour day or a 40 hour week,
A Soldier is always A Soldier,even while they sleep.

A Soldier serves their country first their own life is always left behind,
A Soldier has to sacrifice what comes first in a civilian's mind.

If you are civilian I am saying this to you..
Next time you see A Soldier remember what they do.

A Soldier is the reason our land is 'Home of the free',
A Soldier is the brave one protecting you and me.

If you are or were A Soldier I am saying this to you..Thank God for YOU!

Just random thoughts from an old man..

Forgotten young men forever changed (Vietnam WAR veterans and all veterns from any war)

A Soldier is one who has written a blank check up to and
including his own life to defend yours. This we called HONOR.

We went off to war when you told us to without any hesitation.
We stood so tall in ranks on 10 and always at attention.

We went were we were told to go but not without some fear,
We stood our ground when it shook with explosions far and near.

We dug in deep and yes we weep;
When friends went to their final sleep.

We gathered them up as best we could so as not leave them here,
We sent them home to their loved ones with one of us always near.

To you my friend your final journey will not to be made alone.

For one of us your comrade in arms will take this walk with you,
So my friend I will go with you on this your final walk to see this finally thru.

For in your life you stood by so brave,
And now you rest in your cold and lonely grave.

You'll never be forgotten nor lack for any friends,
My comrade in arms, my friend to the end.

My tears will be shed, my anger unleashed, to you who say "what a waste.
But let it be known by all far and near that YOU sent us to war without haste.

Remember when we came back home again,
YOU spit on us and said we had sinned.

YOU hurled at us your worst insults that you could think,
You said we were baby killers and threw at us all that would stink.

Remember this now and it holds so true,
Remember us this only for you.

We went off to war when you told us to without any hesitation.
We stood so tall in ranks on 10 and always at attention.

Thanks for allowing me to ramble on.

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