Soldiers

Em wrote this for school:



Soldiers are brave, helpful, admirable, honorable, kind, true and loyal.

These heroes protect our country and keep the United States of America safe.

So we should appreciate what they do for us.

They let us have freedom to go to school and be proud of who we are and where we live, in the USA. These special people are only normal people who live in the world where they make a difference.



By: Em H.



Thinking back, I really had no clue about the military when I was her age. I remember I used to have nightmares about the Russians invading us and WWIII, but with everything that was going on, that's probably not too surprising. I remember when the first Gulf War started I was a freshman in college at Baylor. My best friend Catherine, whose dad was in the Army, called me to let me know that the war had begun. My roommate and I watched for a while and then went to dinner with my friend. I still remember how directly it affected her, but I couldn't even think of someone that I knew personally, that was serving at the time. Fast forward 18 years (geez, I am old) and I am about to send my husband off for the third time to Iraq. I have spent more time stationed in Texas than he has. Looking back I was so clueless about what was going on in the world even in college, and now I'm not.



When 9/11 happened (I found out because my friend Peggy called me and told me what was going on) we were stationed at Fort Lewis, WA. My husband was in the field and was on standby and not getting very much information about what was going on. I went on into work (groceries had to be bought, and there could be a nuclear war and my company at the time would have insisted that it was still okay to get in there and work). After I picked up the girls, I had to travel from North Fort on to Main Post and Em wasn't even phased about the new security system that they had in place. There were Soldiers everywhere with their weapons, and a plethora of other security features everywhere. Her military daycare had increased security as well and nothing seemed out of the ordinary to her. I had talked to Em about what was going on in 4 year old language and she said something to the effect of "my Daddy will go get those bad guys and make sure they don't hurt Americans". Her dad was and still is her Hero. Even then she knew that he had an important job and she was proud of him.


From that time, Em has grown in her understanding of what is going on in Iraq and other places throughout the world and why. I can't say that she would know or understand this much if she wasn't the daughter of an American Soldier, but I would like to think that I would have taught her. Abs is not far behind in her understanding of the War in Iraq and how she also plays a role in this because of her love for her dad.


Since Gunner is a lifer, and the girls are at an impressionable age, the choice he has made to serve in the Army will continue to have an effect on them and shape their thoughts and views of the world around them as they grow.