Support/Prayer group for our sons/daughters in military service?

[trails4u]

Anyone else around here have a son/daughter currently serving active duty? (I know the answer to that...by the way!). Perhaps just a fleeting thought....but is there a place here for us moms and dads to share our pride, fear, grief, astonishment, and maybe the other 27,000 emotions that apparently come with having a kid in the military?

I made a post recently that, quite frankly, surprised me by some of the responses, and just got me to thinking about what it's like when it's your kid out there. Not sure anyone can really grasp that.....other than those of us whose kid is out there. I'm thinking of a judgement free place, a place void of politics where we, the parents of active duty soldiers, sailors, marines, and any other kid serving this country can share our thoughts. I know there are a million websites out there for navymoms, navydads, armymoms, etc...etc... But I like this place, and I like this crowd, and I just wonder if this isn't something we could share amongst us.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this??

God Speed. Trails.

[Wayne Smith]

Seems like it would fit in the Chapel - 'cause if you are not trusting God you need to!

[DCP]

Seems like it would fit in the Chapel - 'cause if you are not trusting God you need to!

plus 1

[Sig556r]

Proud parent here of our airman son stationed in Florida (Fort Eglin)...

[Thunder Stick]

I got to watch my youngest granddaughter and grandson while their mom ran some errands. They came over in the morning and this grandpa managed to keep them entertained all day. The girl is three and the boy is 1 1/2.

I bought some Lincoln Logs for them a while back and they throughly enjoy building houses with grandpa. It teaches them patience and dexterity. But I hope that one day they grow up to be engineers. Their favorite part is always knocking down, in one second, the structure that took us five minutes to build.... at which they scream with glee.

We also played with sticker books in the living room where grandpa somehow became a living canvas for Disney princess character stickers and sundry mouse like creatures that covered my shirt. I later found one on my cheek as well. How'd that get there?

Since grandma was away at her job, I allowed the kids to polish off her last bananna and eat her yogurt. Then, we went out into the back yard where we checked out the progress of the apricots growing on our apricot tree. We count the apricots on the branches; one, two, three, four, five... We opened some bottles of bubbles and winded ourselves blowing bubbles, which danced away in the warm desert breeze under blue skies and a few scattered clouds.

Heading back indoors, my cell phone rang. It was a facetime call from their deployed dad, a half a world away! We chatted with "daddy" and he got to see the kid's smile and they saw him smile back. It was my grand daughter's third birthday and daddy called to wish her "Happy birthday!" Daddy, whom my 1 1/2 year old grandson calls, "Dee dee" because.... well he's 1 1/2... would not let me put him down during the facetime. I held him in my arms as he saw his dad talking to him on my cell phone. He pointed at my cell phone and daddy talked with him until he had to say goodbye.

When I set grandson down, he walked over to the china hutch in my kitchen. On the shelf of the hutch is a small framed picture of his daddy in front of Old Glory. Grandson said, "dee dee". He took the picture off the shelf and waked into the other room. He leaned against the sofa and stared at the photo. Now, the image is forever etched into my mind. My grandson misses his daddy.

[shdwlkr]

I have a grandson in the Army and granddaughter in the Coast Guard, yea I think about them a lot.

[jonp]

Daughter served in The Sandbox, now is a Recruiter. This fall/winter Airborne School like me and her Bio Dad then something else.

[trails4u]

So...I guess I started this, and then got busy and walked away for a bit. My apologies. Thunder Stick....yours particularly is the kind of story I was hoping for. Might have suffered some 'allergies' while reading it. I get misty sometimes, apparently a new ailment of mine.

For all of you....I say God bless you, God bless your family and your commitment, and may God watch over your loved ones who have chosen to serve. I am humbled by them all, including my own.

[Thunder Stick]

Thank you for the prayers. I have three sons currently serving in the military. Two are state side and one is deployed "in the sandbox". The good news is that his deployment has ended and he is flying home tonight! Daughter in law is dropping off the two little ones to spend the night and she will pick up my son from the airport. They will spend a day alone together before coming back for the kids.

After 9/11, the boys joined the military of their own accord. That is when my hair turned gray and started falling out. You can't help but worry at every news report. It goes with the territory for Blue Star families. My sons were raised from an early age around guns and learning to shoot. The youngest turned 19 in Afghanistan. He is a DAV. Did I mention that they are good with handguns, rifles and shotguns? I think it was Carlos Hathcock who said, "The most dangerous weapon on the battlefield is a country boy with a rifle." The vast majority of those joining the military today have never handled a firearm. We must teach our kids to handle guns safely and effectively.

Remember to pray for our military deployed around the world on land, sea and in the air. Pray for our leaders to have God's wisdom. Our family prays for all of yours as well.

[fatnhappy]

I am not the master of my emotions right now.

[trails4u]

I'm glad to see this thread is still getting some attention. Prayer works. And our men and women in uniform need and deserve it!

Update on mine....

My eldest is stationed stateside, working air traffic control. He's made PO3 and seems to enjoy the lifestyle and the work. Not sure if he'll re-enlist, but he's got a few years left to figure that out.

His younger brother recently completed all his paperwork at MEPS, and now how a ship date of Dec. 19th for basic training at Great Lakes. Momma's not too happy about the ship date, but all indications are he'll get a call and an offer to go earlier. He'll be entering the Navy's nuclear power program, so good news for us....all three of his school's after basic will be just a few hours down the road!

Thank you all again for your comments, for your service, and for the service of your families.

Trails.

[jonp]

Folks, most if not all airports have USO rooms for our boys and girls to rest in between flights. Call them and ask what they need. Soda, bread for sandwiches, snacks, magazines etc. Wife and I drop off stuff for them on a monthly basis. You don't need to be in uniform to help out. We bring by food stuff and also old paperbacks, outdoor mags etc.

[trails4u]

Well I guess I'll revive this one..... Second son has gotten the call we expected, and his new ship date is now Aug. 20. He's excited...ready to go. We're excited, because we'll have him 'home' for the holidays, but dang....it just got real.

Once again.....I thank each and every one of you who have served, every one of you who has raised a child to do the same, every one of you who supports a spouse, family member, etc.... No one serves alone.....it truly is a family commitment and I salute you all!

[1911sw45]

Stepson just left for Germany this morning for 3 weeks for war games.

[nekshot]

I remember our President and the leadership of this nation according to 1 Timothy 2:1 thru 4 daily. My son was barred from the navy when they found his heart had a hole in it. He was really dissapointed as he wanted to be a medic first responder but obviously other plans for him were to be had. He now is a ICU nurse BSNRN. He still wants to become a flight nurse. I feel honored to live in this nation and highly respect those who helped keep us free. No burning flags around me, if you know what i mean!

[snowwolfe]

Interesting tid bit about our Presidents. The only one who received a Purple Heart was JFK.
Safe travels to all our military.