A Letter from a Military Wife
My husband has been in the military for four years. He joined for reasons
probably very similar to the rest of the people he serves with. We were young,
newly married, with a baby on the way. Every time he thought he was going to
get a decent job, it ended up being a dead end. He ended up going to see an
Army recruiter, conveniently located in some slum, where many people in hopeless
situations may look favorably on joining the military. His recruiter told him
that he could get an office job, a 9-5 job, and go to school for free. The
recruiter told him he could get a nice sign on bonus, free healthcare, and if he
picked the right job, he could stay stateside. The recruiter lied. My husband
went to sign his contract to join the Army on March 1st, 2003. When he was at
the meps station getting ready to sign they told him he was uneducated, so he
was not eligible for a sign on bonus. My husband went to basic training on
March 11, 2003. When my husband was done with his training, he was able to come
home for two weeks. I gave birth to our first child, a son. Five days after
that, my husband went to Korea, where he spent the next year. So much for
staying stateside, right? When he came back, our son was a year old, and had no
idea who my husband was. WE tried to pull it together, and we ended up
stationed in Kentucky. About a year in to being at Kentucky, my husband was
told that he was going to have to change his MOS, or his job, because his was
not a "war time" job, and they were giving it to civilians. They forced him
into being a truck driver, and within 6 months he was deployed to Iraq. He is
currently serving in Iraq, and it has been almost impossible for us. I try my
best to keep him close with our children, but at 2 and 3, and barely seeing
their father, there isn't much of a relationship. It has been hard on my
husband. Time after time he has told me that he doesn't know why he is even
there, and that he doesn't think he can handle it. I have tried to keep him
positive, but I am failing. When we first found out about the troop extension
(thanks CNN) we were devastated. Many well meaning people will say that it's
only 90 more days, but when you have already had to go through 6 or 7 or 8
months, 3 more months is a long time. I am so disgusted with this
administration, and the terrible thing they have done, and the thousands of
lives they have so carelessly destroyed, but I am even more disgusted by the
fact that so many Americans are silent and complacent. Supporting the troops in
the form of a bumper sticker is no support at all. I can only imagine the
problems that my husband is going to have when he returns home, and the
difficulty it will be for my children, adjusting to a father that is here one
minute, gone another. I cling so tightly to the hope that maybe, just maybe
this troop extension for some reason does not include my husband, and that soon
I will see his face again, and start my life again, because there is no life for
me when he is gone. It is just biding my time until I can feel whole again.
Maybe one day soon more people will actually wake up and realize that they have
been lied too. Maybe one day people will care more about the people who are
sacraficing so much, then they do about their flat screen tvs and starbucks. I
would like to hope, but what's the use in hoping?
