Shine Family Foundation

ECHOES IN MY MIND…

They are the men and women of our country who fight for and preserve our freedom; protect us from people, organizations, and groups that want to inflict damage on our way of life.

Since starting the war on terror shortly after 9-11 hundreds of thousands of our men and women have enlisted, trained, and been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Sadly, we’ve lost thousands while tens of thousands come home with physical or other war related trauma. I have often asked myself, what would make a young able bodied man or woman be willing to put their lives on the line in a war?  While looking for the answer, it always comes back to the love of our country and the most important people in their lives…family.

While it’s true that it is our military that find themselves in harms way, the families of those who are deployed are in a battle of their own.  They have to remain strong and positive while dealing with the stress of deployment and the fear of the next knock on the door or phone call bringing tragic news.  I learned this first hand when in 2003, while working in television in southern California,  I was sent to Twentynine Palms Marine Base to see these brave men and women prepare to battle Sadam and his forces.

For the next three months after the air and ground attack started, I spent on average three to five days a week at Twentynine Palms.  I watched them train, go on deployment, and saw how the base, the town of Twentynine Palms, and the families of the Marines dealt with what was going on.  What struck me the most is not how brave those in uniform are but also how bravely the families were handling the “what ifs” and sometimes, the answer is not what they’re hoping for but somehow expected.  It is a very sad and hard reality to be faced with.

During my many visits, I sat down and talked with families of grunts, NCO’s, officers, the wives or husbands left behind, and their children.  Let me tell you, these kids are wiser than we think.  Having their Moms or Dads taken away  from them for months at a time knowing where they are going and that Mom or Dad may not come home is rough on them. Very rough!  The families provide inspiration to our servicemen who can’t wait to talk to or e mail home.  It’s the crazy world they live in and few minutes on the phone or on the internet is their only escape from the dangers they live with minute by minute.

The soft sweet voice on the line or the e-mail that is filled with love provides our men and women the strength to carry on.  The families of our military are truly our “unsung heroes.”

 These are the echoes in my mind…