Military spouses also serve : and want to be heard!

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Military Spouses Also Serve
Encouragement and Uplift

from



Lady Lynn

loved ones also sacrifice
protect veterans spouses

We Also Serve

Military spouses want to be heard

Kristina Kaufman

To get a sense of how eager the White House is to expand support among the military, consider the experience of Kristina Kaufmann.

Kaufmann, who’s married to a soldier, published an op-ed in The Washington Post two months ago about the plight of military families after eight years of war. “I know that many of us feel embittered, powerless and disconnected from the Army in which we and our husbands serve,” she wrote.

Within days, her e-mail account was jammed with messages from soldiers, their families — and the Obama administration.

Staff members for first lady Michelle Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent messages offering sympathy and thanks. “Your account has helped crystallize a number of concerns [Gates] has had over how the department provides extended support to military families,” Robert Rangel, an aide to Gates, wrote on the secretary’s behalf. “It remains an area of significant interest, and he will be using your article to continue to pursue this issue.”

The e-mails also came with invitations.

Since it was published, Kaufmann has been to the White House twice, most recently to participate in a panel with Michelle Obama; Jill Biden; Gen. Jim Jones, the national security adviser; Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and representatives from 25 different military family groups and nongovernmental organizations.

“I didn’t even realize how it came across until it got such a reaction from people,” said Kaufmann.

The administration’s swift and overwhelming response to Kaufmann is rooted in policy and politics.

After Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s Swift Boat-aided defeat in the 2004 presidential election, Democrats have been trying to reverse the post-Vietnam Republican lock on national security issues and to capture the votes of the military, veterans and their families.

Their approach in the 2008 election was twofold: highlight President George W. Bush’s mishandling of the Iraq war, and focus attention on congressional Republicans’ missteps on veterans issues, such as opposing Veterans Affairs funding increases.

Polls suggest the effort paid off. In 2004, Bush captured 65 percent of the veteran vote, according to an Edison/Mitofsky exit poll. In 2008, John McCain won 55 percent of veterans, and Barack Obama picked up 45 percent. More striking: Obama won the vote of veterans under 45, taking 51 percent.

The president is also making progress on the policy front. A recent poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner showed that two-thirds of likely voters approve of his handling of national security issues.

The White House now is trying to capitalize on those gains and build a more enduring constituency within the military.

A key way to do that is to reach out to their families, said Robert Diamond, the New York state chairman of Veterans for Obama. “When people think about the military, people think just about the person in uniform,” Diamond said. “But that’s only half the story.”

Military families are certainly feeling left out of the conversation. The left-leaning Blue Star Families recently studied the attitudes of families and found that 94 percent feel the public needs a greater understanding of the sacrifices they’ve made.

The burdens on military families are intense, from the logistics of moving from base to base to the challenges of parenting alone while spouses are deployed.

Even when a parent returns home, it’s often a difficult adjustment, and repeat deployments make those transitions ever more complex.

politico.com

Mbandi 911 tributeThis is a song I composed. I would like to dedicate it to all the Heroes of 9/11 and the families of Fallen Heroes as well as to our men and women in uniform.
Out of the rubble, we stood taller than ever. And forged ahead with hope and determination.
To find and defeat the enemy ~ Our brave men and women endured the pain of war . . . . . .
And many made the ultimate sacrifice.

Let's not forget the unsung heroes: the families of our warriors.

Welcome Home Nam Vets



"Barack and I know that when our military goes to war, their families go with them. That's
why we must improve services for our nation's military families. Healthier families lead
to healthier troops--and in the end, a stronger country."
[America's First Lady Michelle Obama]

never forget
Never Forget Their Service and Sacrifice


Freedom Isn't Free

Our military spouses and families serve, as well

Project.Foot: homeless vets & military families

Obama kept mum (but turns out he's got big stick)

Iraqi Turnaround in (Ramadi, etc)

Trust Building was key - Petraeus and the Iraq 'miracle'

Joining Forces : to help our military families

PBO: Part of any "Peace Dividend" must go to America's Veterans

Links for Military Family Members

Never Forget - those who sacrifice

Give an Hour : the hidden wounds (ptsd)

Does it seem like you WALK alone?

Not always frenzy, but often fun

A little girl says: Daddy don't go

Interracial US Military family

Jamie Sanderson   Blog Spot

Military Moms hold the fort

Dawnyale's Army Wife Page

Helping Interracial Couples

Cinnamon Red Hots edition

Withstanding Disapproval

Collection of USMC poetry

Wounded Warrior Project

Armed Forces Girlfriends

American Widow Project

Helps for homeschoolers

Marine Wives POETRY

(BD) Blissfully Domestic

Sexy interracial military

Sara Wedman Essay

Classy femininity

Military Wives

Military SOS

Hooah-4-Health
hooah4health

"they also serve who only stand and wait"
John Milton

toughest job
toughest job in the military
in the military


Blue Star Families for Obama is a "Pro Military, Pro Obama" organization.
This grassroots effort was started by Army and Marine Corps Spouses who believe
re-electing Barack Obama reinforces their support of loved ones serving in the military.

Obama Again in 2012

I recently listened to the Enchantment CD by Welsh singer Charlotte Church. The closing song is a duet with Josh Groban. They sing "The Prayer" -- which the jacket says is a mother's prayer when her daughter goes off to war. It is sung alternately in English and Italian. Very beautiful.

I pray you'll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don't know

[I love it]

get along?
can we all just get along?

Marine Ball

We All Wish for a Peace Dividend
(But not at the price of forgetting those who served)


Mitt Romney

Robert Shepherd
friend me (facebook)

site creator Robert Shepherd


more jobs for veterans
Obama ups pressure on GOP
to pass VETERANS jobs plan

joiningforces.gov
Joining Forces

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Robin Shepherd for arranging
last save 12.23.11