For the last year and a half (since mid-2004) my military child has not been deployed to any combat zones. This after being deployed to Afghanistan for nine months and then, four months later, to Iraq.
While it has been a tremendous relief to have him "CONUS" (Continental US) I've always known that it was just a matter of time....
Meanwhile, I've counseled hundreds of military personnel about various facets of their rights within the military and heard just as many stories of military life. (Call 1-800-394-9544 or see www.girights.org for more info.)
Lately, TOO many stories are related by young people severely exhausted and traumatized by their deployments -- particularly to Iraq as the combat zone in Afghanistan is still painted with the brush of a "righteous war". ("Righteous" in the opinion of many Americans as it is a war of revenge for 9/11. That the Afghan people are paying with their lives for the actions of a non-Afghan resident is, it appears, unimportant...not to mention illogical. But, that is the nature of revenge.) Some military personnel are redeploying for the third and fourth time! My child has not had to do this. And, I know that we've been very lucky.
But, now, at the end of the week, he'll deploy again. Not to Afghanistan. Not even to Iraq. So, thank god for small mercies! I'm not at liberty to say where he'll deploy but, so far, it is not a combat zone. Nevertheless, the blackness that I experienced during his combat deployments is returning. That familiar feeling that nothing much matters, that everything is going to hell in a handbasket, that there is no point in getting up and going to work, that our so-called "leaders" can send our kids off to a killing-field of our own devising and there is not much we can do about it. Certainly not much we can do in a reasonably effective amount of time...
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