Story 1

May 22, 2008

SUPPORTING OUR MILITARY FAMILIES

Life in the Armed Forces is not for everyone and that goes double for their spouses and children. There are many special challenges for dependents of service members. Uprooting and moving to different locations happen frequently. Just when they start to get comfortable the service member may get orders to be transferred. Uprooting a life with friends and familiar surroundings, is at best a harrowing experience even if everything goes smoothly.

There are many special challenges to being a Military family. The community is very different from living in a regular neighborhood. Living on post exposes everyone to the needs and requirements of the service. You can't let the grass grow too high when you live in a military community because that can be a punishable offense. All units will have a family association of some sort that can provide help. Welcoming committees can provide you with maps and tell you where necessities can be found. Support groups can help you out with needs and a shoulder to cry on if you need one. That is a part of military life, helping others who understand what you are going through. Helping each other especially during deployments, is just a part of the way military families are. Lending a shoulder to cry on and helping to deal with the burdens when things become overwhelming can be a lifesaver.

Dependents quickly learn they have to have their ID handy. This is required for services like the commissary and now to get through the base gate. Military posts are like small little towns within themselves that have a commissary for grocery shopping, a post office, a library, gas station, theatre, bowling alley, gym, and BX or PX, and sometimes other facilities. Schools are generally on post, at least for the younger age children, and most installations have youth centers, swimming pools, and playgrounds.

COMMISSARY AND AAFES ARE SIMILAR TO SUPER WALMARTS

Children who have grown up in the military are usually known as military brats. From their mouths some of the comments that you will hear are-- my family is helping the world become a better place. Another comment is that you have to move a lot of times, and I get to make a lot of new friends and get to go to a lot of different places. Sometimes you may also hear the hurt with questions like why do you have to deploy or why do you have to go. You may have the chance to learn different languages, and see the world. One of the best comments is I feel safe on base. Military children often have lower delinquency rates, higher achievement scores, and higher median IQs than their civilian counterparts. They are more likely to have a college degree and possess an advanced degree.

Service members swear an oath to uphold the Constitution and protect our country, while their spouses and children take an unwritten oath to a life that is best described as a roller coaster ride. Military families will more than likely encounter more challenges in their military life than other people will ever experience in a lifetime.

There are so many issue and subjects that fall under military families that other families do not need to handle. It takes a special person to be in a military relationship: deployments, moves, the worry about your partner's safety. Military relationships have unique stresses and rewards for individuals and their families.

It is time to say thank you to all of you who serve or have served in the U.S. military, generation passed down to another generation. To all of you we say"Thank You", but we must also ask that you remember those who have served as the silent heroes beside many of you, They do so without ever taking an oath of office or by wearing any uniform except for a wedding band and let's not forget the products of your love, your children. Thank you for keeping your family going when the service member is deployed to parts around the world in service of the U.S.A.

Thank you, the military member, for not giving up on our country and for keeping us safe at night and for giving of your time, for leaving your families for us, and for those who have given their lives. We say thank you. The Military Family should be honored and revered, held in the highest esteem for what they sacrifice day by day. Whether it is a parent, sibling, son, or daughter. They are what America is about.

FAMILY WE, THE FAMILY Serving, Sacrificing, Influencing the world. Giving-ungrudgingly, Facing loss - bravely. Sometimes on foreign soil. Generation following Generation. Preserving dignity, Upholding integrity. Bowing to the Stars and Stripes, Holding down the fort. Waiting - a practical art, Proudly wearing the brand. AMERICAN. Men, Women, Children, Numbering millions in souls. Who stay the course, finish the race, Emerging better for having done so. The Military Family, UNITED - a steadfast whole.