It has been 3 months since Kenneth went to Iraq and I became an “unaccompanied tour” spouse.
No one ever writes about all the myriad of support avenues that the US government provides families in my situation. The State Department, through its Family Liaison Office, provides incredible help, if one wants it. But, like everything else, one must take the initiative to seek the information and the assistance.
Having a husband in a turbulent land of transition is not easy, and it has given me a very personal perspective, and an even greater admiration, of our soldiers’ spouses and what they go through, day in and day out, year after year.
This has become more evident as I read the reports of what is going on back in the US during this election year. Some of the commentary, be it specious, angry, ignorant or plain stupid, either mocks, decries, diminishes or dismisses the sacrifices that so many Americans are making.
The brunt of this ridicule is not the American soldier or diplomat or contractor working in Iraq or Afghanistan or other dangerous foreign places. After all, these are all adults who can defend their stance, and have volunteered to serve in these places. One can read some personal accounts about volunteering as a diplomat to serve in Iraq here, here and here.
The sad part is that the brunt of this ridicule are the young sons and daughters of these Americans, who fear for a parent’s safety, are proud of a parent’s efforts, yet cannot understand the constant castigation.
So, when my daughter is disturbed by what she reads or hears about our efforts in Iraq, I try to remind her that despite the rhetoric, there are many who support what the US Government is trying to do, and that that her Dad’s tour of duty is far from useless.
In the end, there is a lot of good together with the bad. So she misses Dad… but, if it hadn’t been for his stay in Hillah, we would not have known that the Iraqis share something in common with the Poles and the Czechs… the love of carp!
family liaison office state department unaccompanied tour
