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Prayers for Wlydbreeze

ALL THE BEST TO ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN FIGHTING OVERSEAS TO GIVE ME MY FREEDOM ! ! ! :heart: :heart:


MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO ALL THE FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES WHO HAVE LOST SOMEONE IN THE BATTLE FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ! ! ! :rose: :rose:
 
My Sympathies for Their Loss....

Children of the Fallen
Over 1,000 American kids have lost a parent in the Iraq war. Who they
are,
and how they're coping

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7169451/site/newsweek/

Newsweek

This story was written by Jerry Adler with reporting from Debra
Rosenberg,
T. Trent Gegax, Pat Wingert, Daren Briscoe, Hilary Shenfeld, Kiyoshi
Martinez, Dirk Johnson, Jamie Reno and Andrew Horesh


March 21 issue - They were prepared to die, even the truck drivers and
supply clerks; any American who sets foot in Iraq must be. They made
out
wills, as the military requires, and left behind letters and videos for
their families. The families in turn prepared for the day when they
might
open the door to find a chaplain on the other side. In military
families the
notion of duty is not confined to the battlefield. On the morning that
14-year-old Rohan Osbourne learned that his mother, Pamela, had been
killed
in a mortar attack on her Army base, his father dropped him off as
usual at
Robert M. Shoemaker High School, where three quarters of the students
are
the children of soldiers from nearby Fort Hood, Texas. "I might not get
a
lot of work done today, ma'am," Rohan politely explained to his
teacher. "My
mommy died yesterday in Iraq."

War notoriously robs parents of their sons, but it also steals husbands
and
fathers, and increasingly wives and mothers. The Pentagon doesn't keep
these
statistics, but using figures compiled by the Scripps-Howard News
Service
and other sources, NEWSWEEK has calculated that as of last week 1,043
American children had lost a parent in Iraq. To put it another way,
nearly
two years after the invasion on March 19, 2003, among the 1,508
American
troops who have died as of March 11 were an estimated 450 fathers, and
7
mothers. A wartime death presents unique hardships for children. It
occurs
in a far-off country, often to a parent who left home months earlier;
young
children may find it hard to grasp the finality of the event.
Offsetting
that is the impressive panoply and ritual of a military funeral, and
the
consoling knowledge that the sacrifice was in a worthy cause. The death
of a
parent often leaves a family not just sadder, but poorer, and surviving
spouses are agitating for improvements in their benefits. But there are
needs no government program can fill.

The fathers were big strong men, like Nino Livaudais, a 23-year-old
Army
Ranger with two tours in Afghanistan behind him before the invasion.
His son
Destre, now 7, is still struggling to understand how such a hero could
have
been killed by a mere bomb. "I can kind of picture it," he says
hesitantly.
"But it's hard to picture it. I don't really think explosions hurt that
much. My dad's usually a tough man. He went through about five wars."
Livaudais left, besides Destre (then 5) and his wife, Jackie, a
2-year-old
son, Carson, and Grant, who was born after his death. As relatives
gathered
on the family porch after Nino's funeral, Carson grew excited by all
the
unexpected company and started calling for his daddy to join the party.
He
then turned around, puzzled, as the grown-ups all burst into tears.

And their mothers were loving and devoted, like Spc. Jessica Cawvey,
21.
Before she left for Iraq last February with her Illinois National Guard
unit, her daughter, Sierra, made her pinkie-swear she wouldn't die. So
when
Cawvey was killed by a roadside bomb in Fallujah last October, it was
not
merely a tragedy for Sierra, it was a kind of betrayal. "We had to
explain
that even though she died, it wasn't her mommy's fault," said Kevin
Cawvey,
Sierra's grandfather. Vanessa Arroyave, who was 6 when her father,
Marine
S/Sgt. Jimmy Javier Arroyave, was deployed, was certain he would die in
Iraq. "She was very adamant about that," says her mother, Rachelle. The
little girl was right. Last April, when Arroyave was killed in a truck
accident, Vanessa told her mother: "I told you so." So Rachelle faced
the
mirror image of the Cawvey family's problem. She had to reassure her
daughter that by predicting her father's death, she hadn't brought it
about.

The sudden onslaughts of grief are sometimes almost more than Nelda
Howton,
the principal of Osbourne's school near Fort Hood, can bear. She has
picked
up the phone to find a mother sobbing on the other end, begging Howton
to
drive her son home. One girl's aunt walked straight to the classroom
and
appeared in the doorway, tears streaming down her face. The students do
characteristically thoughtless things, like asking Jessica
Blankenbecler for
her autograph because they had seen her on television. Blankenbecler, a
pretty sophomore, was the first student at Shoemaker to lose a parent
in
Iraq. That wasn't the worst of it; one girl told her, "I wish something
would happen to my dad because then we'd get rich"-a remark that
carried a
particular sting because Blankenbecler's mother, Linnie, thinks they're
actually going to be poor.


Compensation for the families of soldiers killed in action is a
politically
and emotionally charged issue, particularly in light of the changing
makeup
of the military. The saying used to be that "if the Army wanted you to
have
a wife, they would have issued you one," but the proportion of married
soldiers is higher today than in any previous war, says Charlie Moskos,
a
Northwestern University sociologist. The military today is a
better-paid
career than most high-school graduates could aspire to otherwise, which
may
explain why the average male soldier now gets married at 24-three years
younger than the rest of the population. The heavy reliance on Reserves
and
National Guard troops also puts family men and women on the front lines
in
unprecedented numbers. Of the Americans killed in Iraq through the end
of
November 2004, more than two in five were married.

Characteristically, the military and Congress have responded to the
urgent
needs of the survivors by adding new layers of bureaucracy to a system
that
dates back to the Civil War (and, in fact, is still paying benefits to
five
offspring of Civil War veterans). Spouses receive a lump-sum "death
gratuity" of $12,420, plus life insurance of as much as $250,000. This
payment would be effectively doubled by a bill that is expected to pass
in
the next month. Families are eligible for Social Security payments and
for
two different kinds of government annuities, although the fine print
requires an offsetting reduction in one if you also collect the other.
Survivors are eligible for generous college-tuition grants and lifetime
subsidized health care. As an illustration, the National Military
Families
Association calculated the benefits for the family (a wife and children
ages
1 and 3) of an enlisted man with a salary of $38,064 a year, including
a
housing allowance and combat pay. Apart from the lump-sum payments, his
wife
would receive the equivalent of an annual income of $57,624, falling to
$45,804 after two years, then declining in steps as the children reach
adulthood. By the time the younger child turns 23, the wife's check
would
amount to only about a quarter of her husband's active-duty salary.

Last year the Department of Veterans Affairs added bereavement
counseling to
the package of benefits. This supplements the work of a voluntary
organization called TAPS-Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors-which
organizes "emotional peer-to-peer" counseling among kids. There are
also
freelance outreach efforts by the adult children of servicemen killed
in
Vietnam, who are now approaching middle age themselves. Tony Cordero,
who
was 4 when his father, William, was killed in 1965, founded a
survivors'
group called Sons and Daughters in Touch, which has begun inviting the
children of Iraqi casualties to its Father's Day memorials. Ever since
the
publication of her family memoir ("Hero Mama"), the writer Karen Spears
Zacharias, whose father was killed in Vietnam, has become a magnet for
bereaved kids, who write and call her at all hours. In quiet visits,
she
tells them she understands how they feel: "It's difficult to lose a
father
in an unpopular war."

Psychologists have learned a lot about how to help children through the
grief process. Unfortunately one of the most important
recommendations-to
avoid unnecessary changes to the child's daily routine-is impossible
for
many military families, who generally have to move off base within six
months. Previous advice that a healthy adjustment required a clean
break
with the deceased parent is now inoperative; current thinking is that
children "want and need a continuing bond to their dead parent,"
according
to J. William Worden, co-director of Harvard's Child Bereavement Study.
"They talk to them, they keep things that belong to them, they dream
about
them and think about them," he says. Tony Bertolino Jr., 15, appears to
have
memorized the entire career and duties of his father, an Army sergeant
who
was killed in an ambush in late 2003. "He was a highly respected
soldier and
man," he says. David Kirchhoff Jr., whose father, an Iowa guardsman,
died of
heat stroke in Iraq in 2003, has turned his bedroom into a virtual
shrine to
his father, including a wall of photographs. Like many sons of
soldiers, he
imagines enlisting himself someday. His plan, though, is to "go over
there
and tell everybody it's not worth it." Compared with the 20,000
American
children who lost a father in Vietnam, the families of Iraqi war
casualties
have the advantage that almost all of them are getting a body back.
Many men
back then were lost in the jungle or the air and were-or still
are-listed as
"missing," leaving their families to wonder, "Is he going to be coming
around the corner one day?" says Cordero. It was with that in mind that
Tina
Cline, whose husband, Marine Lance Cpl. Donald Cline, was killed in an
explosion on the fourth day of the invasion, decided to let 2-year-old
Dakota look inside the flag-draped coffin at the uniformed body inside.
The
body had no head.

"Daddy's not coming home," she whispered to her son, who was dressed in
a
tiny dark suit and tie. "He's got a bigger job to do, helping God in
heaven."

Parents have always said that, to little boys who stood at attention
and
promised their moms they would be brave. They wore their father's dog
tags
to school, and, in the way of things, eventually went off to fight in
their
own wars. On the same day that Cline's vehicle was hit by a shell,
Marine
Sgt. Phillip Jordan was killed in Nasiriya, leaving behind a 6-year-old
son,
Tyler, whom he called "Lavabug." For a week after, Tyler sulked around
the
house in his 6-foot-3-inch father's camouflage shirt, refusing to eat
or to
talk to his mother, Amanda.

"God needed Daddy in heaven," she explained recently.

"Well," he replied, "I needed him, too."

© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7169451/site/newsweek/

*************************************************************
Copyright material is distributed without profit or
payment for research and educational purposes only,
in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.
Reference: <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml>.
*************************************************************

Let's not either forget the 100,000 dead Iraqi folk. 75% of whom are children.

Peace :rose:
 
They will always be with in us if not among us. I thank all that have given past, present and future so I may be free
 
Just dropping in to thank ALL of you for your encouraging words during this difficult time. The funeral for Brad was yesterday....the others are today and tomorrow. It was a very difficult yet peaceful time....if that makes sense.

Let's keep remembering our troops and each other...... :rose:
 
You have all been in my thoughts and prayers, WyldBreeze. I understand those rituals can be comforting and peaceful. Take special care during these difficult days and those to come. :rose:
 
{{{{{{{{{{{WB}}}}}}}}}}}}}} :rose: My condelence to you, Brad's Family and Friends......I have you all in my thougths and prayers.


God bless Brad and all the men and women that have been killed in battle....My God's peace be with the loved ones.

God Bless and keep all of our troops over there in present fighting for us to have freedom!!!!

​

WyldBreeze said:
Just dropping in to thank ALL of you for your encouraging words during this difficult time. The funeral for Brad was yesterday....the others are today and tomorrow. It was a very difficult yet peaceful time....if that makes sense.

Let's keep remembering our troops and each other...... :rose:
Click to expand...
 
WyldBreeze said:
Just dropping in to thank ALL of you for your encouraging words during this difficult time. The funeral for Brad was yesterday....the others are today and tomorrow. It was a very difficult yet peaceful time....if that makes sense.

Let's keep remembering our troops and each other...... :rose:
Click to expand...


http://p.webshots.com/ProThumbs/44/46744_wallpaper400.jpg

Keeping our troops and their loved ones in my thoughts and prayers...
{{{{WB}}}}​
 
The last of the funerals was today....May God watch over the families and surround them with peace. :rose:
 
I had to stop and say why does prayer seem to fall by the way side and all else seem to stay forever. I continue to pray for all I know and alot I don't. Such as our troops and other unsung heros :)
 
Shreik said:
I had to stop and say why does prayer seem to fall by the way side and all else seem to stay forever. I continue to pray for all I know and alot I don't. Such as our troops and other unsung heros :)
Click to expand...

Thank you, sweet Shreik. Everyone gets busy with life....those of us that continue to pray are heard. Thank you for yours. :rose:
 
WyldBreeze said:
Thanks, sweet one....your bumps are always appreciated. :kiss:
Click to expand...
Glad you liked hon I hope you liked the photo the other day as much *EG* :rose:
 
Shreik said:
Glad you liked hon I hope you liked the photo the other day as much *EG* :rose:
Click to expand...

I think you already know the answer to that...*swooning just thinking about it* ;)
 
WyldBreeze said:
I think you already know the answer to that...*swooning just thinking about it* ;)
Click to expand...
Hey babe I was hoping you liked So glad you did :rose: :)
 
Just sending out prayers to all the families who've lost a love one.

Happy Birthday, Brad. :rose:
 
{{{Wyld}}}
I am so terribly sorry for your loss and my heart goes out to you and the families of those who dont come home from faraway conflicts.
He will remain forever in your heart and the hearts of those who knew him.
If there is anything I can do to ease your burden sweet lady do not hesitate to contact me.
 
mark197205 said:
{{{Wyld}}}
I am so terribly sorry for your loss and my heart goes out to you and the families of those who dont come home from faraway conflicts.
He will remain forever in your heart and the hearts of those who knew him.
If there is anything I can do to ease your burden sweet lady do not hesitate to contact me.
Click to expand...


Thank you, Mark :kiss: ....just keep all our troops in your thoughts that they may return home safely and soon. :rose:
 
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