We see them sitting out in front of stores asking for donations in return for a red Remembrance Poppy. We see them in the parades representing and honoring all Veterans. And all too often, we see them honoring a fallen soldier as they lay them to rest. They are our Veterans and they are proud to serve our country.
I am a daughter, granddaughter, wife, sister, mother, and aunt of Veterans. I am proud of all of them. Some served overseas while others took their duties seriously to serve their country on the home front. It is almost a silent tradition in our family.
Both of my grandfathers were in the military during WWI. My
father was underage when he joined the Navy serving on the USS Mississippi in the Pacific during WWII. I never met my Uncle Bill. He died in the Korean War. He was 18 years old, but Mom would talk about him often. He was her baby brother. I know our family is not unique, there are many families just like ours with a history of many family members serving in the military.
My husband served for 27 1/2 years in the Air Force. We rarely talked about the bad times to civilians. They thought we had a glamorous life traveling around the world. It was wonderful, but it wasn't an easy life. Moving took its toll on the children having to leave their friends behind. They barely knew their grandparents. I was challenged to find work and make a home with every move. I often took the first job offer because we needed that second paycheck no matter how small. Moving costs never covered our frequent moves. Housing allowances were never enough. We lived paycheck to paycheck.
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| Our brother-in-law's 30 year retirement. |
Deployments are especially hard on a young military family. Children do not understand why one or both parents have to leave. The spouses left behind have their work doubled while taking care of the home front and worrying about their spouse coming back home.
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Our daughter and our granddaughter saying
good-bye to Daddy being deployed to Iraq.
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It is a shame that many young military families are using food programs like WIC (women, infants & children) to feed their children and signing them up for the school meal programs. Medical used to be the best deal for a military family. Often, they are asked to go to a civilian doctor and to use their Tri-care. They are on their own for dental and eye appointments unless the family is overseas. They are having a harder time than we did with the cost of living and yet their service members are still risking their lives to protect our country.
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| Our son serving overseas in the Azores. |
Don’t get me wrong, I would never trade in our lifestyle or
our experiences for a civilian living in one location. As a child, I saw more of our country than
many of the civilian elders did their whole life time. As a young married couple (18 & 19 yrs), I
believe our military life taught us to take responsibility and to be independent. We learned to rely on the military community
for support and guidance instead of expecting our parents to fix our problems
for us. We did a lot of growing up
during our first couple of years away from home.
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| My brother and his son with our Mother. |
If you happen to see a Veteran or a military family, thank them for their service, buy a Remembrance Poppy, or you can show your support anonymously with one of the many charities listed below:
Yellow-Ribbons
These charities do not always ask for money. Many ask for volunteers to donate their time to make blankets, care packets, or send emails. My favorite donation was to spend one day gathering together with other volunteers to make quilts for children of deployed parents from our local base. After 8 to 9 hours of sewing, we had made close to 40 flannel blankets.
The cost for our freedom? The life of a service member...we can never repay our debt, but we can show our appreciation by thanking them.
Thank You for Serving Our Country
