Books for children about deployment
For ages 3 to 8
Daddy, You're My Hero and Mommy, You're My Hero, by Michelle Ferguson-Cohen (Little Redhaired Girl Publishing, 2005).
These board books address deployment from a child's viewpoint in a comforting, reassuring way. Recommended by the Military Child Education Coalition, DoD Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools, Iraq War Veterans Organization, USAA, and the American Press Institute.

While You Are Away, by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Renee Graef (Hyperion, 2004).
Told in the voices of three children whose parents are deployed: a boy whose father is on a ship at sea, a girl whose mother is a pilot, and a boy whose father drives a jeep. Each child talks about what it's like to miss a parent, and the book ends with the day the parents return home. Gentle and reassuring, with colorful illustrations.

For ages 6 to 12
Deployment Journal for Kids, by Rachel Robertson (Elva Resa Publishing, 2005).
Created especially for military children, this journal provides a place to record feelings and events during a loved one's deployment. It also contains calendar pages, writing ideas, interesting facts about common deployment locations, military definitions, and a pocket in which to keep mementos.

The Soldier's Tree, by Stephanie L. Pickup (TAO Publishing, 2004).
Designed to help military children enjoy the Christmas holidays while they're separated from a loved one. The author, an Army wife, wrote this book after experiencing two deployments through the holidays with young children.

ABC's of a Military Wife

A is for attacking the phone every time it rings. Even if it means sleeping with the handset or nearly careening off the highway trying to reach your phone in your purse on the floor...in case it is your soldier calling.

B is for boxes. Packing them, unpacking them, shipping them, receiving them, using them to store precious letters.

C is for cheering your head off when your soldier finally comes home from that LOOONNNGGG deployment!!!

D is for deployments, and the deployments that extend.

E is for the Excitement you feel when you know he is coming very soon after being away for a LONGGGGG time!!

F is for the friendships that come and go due to moving every three years, and for those that last a lifetime no matter what the distance.

G is for the Good friends you will meet despite knowing them for a short span of time.

H is for the helpful hands that come when they are needed.

I is for IRAQ, the nastiest 4 letter word we know!

J is for how you JUMP for JOY when homecoming arrives.

K is for Kitchen where you prepare gourmet snacks and scrub and scrub, just to keep your mind occupied.

L is the love you have for your soldier.

M is for the marriage that survives the struggles that come with being a Military wife.

N is for Naughty time when "daddy" gets home!

O is for OPSEC- learn it- know it- live by it.......

P is patience! God knows you need it....

Q Is for the Questions you have to deal with every day. "When is he coming home?" "Will he get to come home for Christmas?" "Does he plan on getting out after he comes back?" "Why did he re-enlist?" and....

R is for R & R of course! With all these dang deployments, families LIVE for R & R!

T is for the time you have with him while he is home.

U is for the UGLY brown briefs we have to see our husbands wear!

V is for the variety of different places you will go!

W IS FOR THE WORRIES.......WHERE IS HE......WHEN IS IT GONNA BE OVER...........

X is for the extra hugs and kisses you try to squeeze in right before they get on the plane...

Y is for the yawns caused by all of the late night phone calls or IM sessions, the long days, the sleepless nights and the hot nights spent with your man when neither of you gets any sleep.

Z is for the time ZONES that we have to count to figure out what time is it where ever they are deployed or stationed at while they are away.

I wanted to share a series of military spouse-related Doonesbury comics from a few weeks back. (Scroll down after clicking each link to see the strips.)

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20070514

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20070515

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20070516

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20070517

I know these are not cheery. And to be honest I'm not a big fan of Doonesbury. But I do think these may be good to keep in mind when hitting 'send.'

As one lady blogger wrote in response to the worst things.  There are really two best things you can thing of:
 
 
1. Thanks for all that both of you are doing, and
2. I'm praying for you, your husband, and your family

 

Published on Thursday, April 19, 2007

The military announced recently that most active-duty Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan and those sent in the future would serve 15-month tours, three months longer than the standard yearlong tour.
 
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the change at a news conference at the Pentagon. As news of this hit, my phone started ringing off the hook. Would Brendan be affected by this change in policy? And what were people in the Army saying about the new deployment schedules?
 
I may be speaking extemporaneously, but I don’t think this changes things too much in the Special Forces. Their tours are not usually yearlong tours, so I don’t think it pertains to us right now. I did ask some friends and took some informal polls from people affected by this new policy. The results were interesting. Keep in mind that most of the people I spoke with were wives of soldiers readying for deployment or those whose husbands were already deployed. They were just scratching the surface as to how deeply this was going to affect their lives. Their emotions were very raw.
 
I broke the women into two categories, those whose husbands had not left and those whose husbands were already gone. It seemed as though the wives of the soldiers who had not left were upset at the idea of 15 months but were glad they knew beforehand.
 
Creating your mind-set for a deployment is half the battle in surviving it. If you know the return date (give or take a week or two) then you have a date out there to shoot for. You start the mental game of counting days, weeks or months and start thinking about what events are around the return time so you can plan family time together.
 
Those women I talked to whose husbands are already gone were more despondent. Some were to have their husbands home within a month or two. Now it’s four or five more months. Plans for vacations were quickly changed and delicate conversations were taking place with their children. One woman told me that a family member said to her, “It’s only three more months, does it really matter at this point? He’s already been gone so long, what’s a few more months?” One hardly knows how to answer such a ridiculous question, other than to say, “How about we take your husband away from you for 15 months and see how you handle it?”
 
Other women said their families told them that the upside to a 15-month deployment was that they would not be able to be deployed again for a full year. Are you kidding me? That’s the upside? Oh, by the way, not being deployable for a full year does not mean that your spouse will be around. There are local and off-site training exercises, professional development and schooling that keep them away from their families during that “nondeployable” time.
 
I have a friend who knows a female captain serving in Iraq. She has been gone from home for about three months and just found out she will not be home for another year. When she left for Iraq, she said goodbye to her husband and 15-month-old son. She will come home to a child who may not recognize her. She will do her job because it was her choice to join the military and serve her country. She will make the best of the situation because that is what soldiers do. She was the only female soldier who was a part of my informal poll, and her views are those of a soldier: Duty first.
 
Bottom line is that soldiers will do what is asked of them, and so will their families. This is not an easy life. No one ever said it is. Unexpected twists in the road are always part of the military experience. This is another unfortunate hairpin turn that we, as military folks, have to endure. It is becoming ever more evident to me that “Army Strong” is not just about the soldier, but about the family as well. May all come home soon and on swift feet. Peace to all.
 

Published on Thursday, April 26, 2007

 

 
Here we go again.
 
My husband recently learned that his new assignment involves a deployment. A long one.
 
His last trip to Iraq lasted 199 days. It felt like forever.
 
Now we’re looking at the 365-day variety, and I’m having trouble comprehending.
 
I was “sold” on the nine-month trip. My husband insisted that the “good” news was that he would be joining an already-deployed unit so he wouldn’t have to stay quite as long.
 
A few days into absorbing that reality we heard NBC Nightly News open with the announcement that Army tours across the board are being extended three months, starting immediately.
 
There are few things I hate more than hearing news like that from the media. Would it be so hard to inform soldiers and their families first?
I looked at my husband in disbelief. He seemed caught off guard as well. The next day he received the official Department of Defense e-mail confirming the worst.
 
They also announced additional vacation days for those deploying longer than 12 months.
 
My husband has 75 days of vacation banked. He lost eight days last fall because he couldn’t use them in time, and has 30 days in a “use or lose” status. Good try, but extra leave isn’t going to win over our hearts or minds.
 
In relative terms, we’re still in the fortunate camp, I suppose, staring down a 12-month absence instead of a 15-month one. It is just awfully hard to feel anything good about a whole year apart.
 
Three-hundred-sixty-five days. Twelve months. Four seasons. Three toddler clothing sizes, two battery changes for the smoke detectors, and one of every holiday.
 
Lots of firsts, a few lasts. A couple of weddings, and presumably a funeral or two. Birthday parties, anniversaries, baseball games, road trips. And pictures. Too many pictures to count that won’t have daddy in them.
 
If there’s anything good, I guess it’s that we know about the deployment in advance. We have lots of time to take care of the details.
 
Important details such as: Where will we live? How much is an alarm system? Do we have time to take a family vacation, so we don’t lose those leave days? When are we getting an updated power of attorney? Can we afford a part-time baby sitter? What kind of special paperwork needs to be done to give me complete legal authority over our daughter? Does she need a passport? Should we try to get pregnant again? Do we need more life insurance?
 
Less important details such as: Will we be able to use a Web cam so we can see each other? Should we drop the insurance on one of the cars? How much extra is hazardous-duty pay? What is the plumber’s phone number? Who will keep me sane when our daughter refuses to eat the peas she loved yesterday? Should I potty train her or wait until daddy gets back?
 
Kind of silly, but still necessary, details such as: How does the TV/cable/DVD/receiver/stereo/wireless speaker/surround-sound system work, and what do I do if I push the wrong button on the remote control? Who will set and check the mouse traps? How exactly does daddy fill the house with laughter even after a really bad day? Where do we keep the lawn mower? What day do they pick up garbage again?
 
One year. The second year of our daughter’s life. The sixth year of our marriage. The 33rd year of my life.
 
No matter how many ways I slice it, I just cannot imagine an entire year as a single parent.
 
This will be active duty for sure, with no leave in sight.
 

By Rebekah Sanderlin  
 
Much like the men we married, Army wives aren't happy when we're not griping about something. So with Christmas less than 12 days away, I submit "The 12 Days of Christmas for Army Wives."


12 Days of Christmas for Army Wives

On the first day of Christmas my soldier gave to me,
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the second day of Christmas my soldier gave to me,
two base stickers and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the third day of Christmas my soldier gave to me,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers, and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the fourth day of Christmas my soldier gave to me
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers, and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the fifth day of Christmas my soldier gave to me
five days of leave,
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers, and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the sixth day of Christmas my soldier gave to me
a six a.m. wake-up,
five days of leave,
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the seventh day of Christmas my soldier gave to me
seven bags of laundry,
a six a.m. wake-up,
five days of leave,
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the eighth day of Christmas my soldier gave to me
eight days in the field,
seven bags of laundry,
a six a.m. wake-up,
five days of leave,
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the ninth day of Christmas my soldier gave to me
nine “I’m sorries”,
eight days in the field,
seven bags of laundry,
a six a.m. wake-up,
five days of leave,
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the tenth day of Christmas my soldier gave to me
ten sacks of groceries,
nine “I’m sorries”,
eight days in the field,
seven bags of laundry,
a six a.m. wake-up,
five days of leave,
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.
 
On the eleventh day of Christmas my soldier gave to me
eleven boxes to move,
ten sacks of groceries,
nine “I’m sorries”,
eight days in the field,
seven bags of laundry,
a six a.m. wake-up,
five days of leave,
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my soldier gave to me a
12-month deployment,
eleven boxes to move,
ten sacks of groceries,
nine “I’m sorries”,
eight days in the field,
seven bags of laundry,
a six a.m. wake-up,
five days of leave,
a four-year reenlistment,
three whiny kids,
two base stickers and
a tan-colored dependent I.D.

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season. Remember, it's never as bad as it seems!!!!