"Toughtest job in the Army"

Army Wife

I certainly am not about to argue with Mrs. Drang about that.

Here's a wonderful Op-ed piece on the subject from the Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard.

That can't be right. Eugene? Our Eugene? Anarchist Central Eugene?

They'd probably burn her in effigy, if this wasn't Earth Day and they were more concerned about raising their carbon footprint or something...

Anyway, here's a taste:

Paul believes that he is making a difference in this world. I have to believe that, too. As an Oregon National Guard wife, there is an unspoken code that assumes you won’t participate in anti-war sentiment, but that’s not what stops me from joining them. As I watch, I feel anger, not kinship.

The fact is, I didn’t really understand war until I married someone who fought it.

When I met Paul, he was already a combat veteran. He had served peacekeeping tours in Egypt and Israel, and tours that were anything but peaceful in Iraq. When he flirted with me, I told him I didn’t date military guys. When I caught him reading “The Art of War,” I thought he was a barbarian. When I met his Army friends, I was disgusted by the glorified battle stories they told. When he quit his civilian job and started wearing a uniform every day, I was proud when people thanked him for his service.When he left for Afghanistan, I quit my job to start a military support business. Sometimes you don’t know how you’ll react to something until you live it.

Lately, I read blogs by soldiers on the front lines. It’s the fastest way I know to be depressed and inspired all in one sitting. One of them writes:

“It’s easy to say we shouldn’t be at war, when you’re not the ‘we.’"

And

There was a time I might have attended a peace rally. But that was before I became an Army wife. Before I understood the things that only become clear when your husband — or son, or brother, or father, or sister, or daughter, or wife, or mother — is the one fighting the war. When you are part of the “we.” When you have lent your loved one to Uncle Sam to fight for all of those who have their loved ones safe at home and out of harm’s way.

I can't stand to be around anti-war protesters. Especially the ones who claim they "support the troops" but "not the war." Occasionally I have attempted to explain to them that they cannot support the troops if they do not support what the troops are doing, but usually I just walk away.
Part of the reason I can't stand those sorry examples of humanity is also illustrated in Ms Dyers' Oped:

“You’ll join us when your husband dies,” one of the protesters whispered.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's more, follow the link and read. Or, Blackfive has the full text, here.