Off to War Read Free Page B

know any other military kids, so when their mom or their dad has to go overseas or gets sent somewhere else in the United States, they can feel very alone. It helps to have other kids to talk to — kids who know what they’re going through.
    My father was posted to Washington, DC, for awhile. He had to leave his work here in Roswell to work with the air defense artillery. His job was to protect the president. If any planes came into his air space that weren’t supposed to be there, his job was to shoot them down. He didn’t have to shoot at anything while he was there.
    He could still get sent to Iraq, or to Afghanistan, or somewhere else. Lots of kids I know through the youth council have parents deployed overseas. Mom says the next big deploymentcoming up is for Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Maybe my father will end up going there. I hope he stays home, though.
    I hated it when he went away to Washington, even though he wasn’t in danger. We got to go visit him while he was there — me, my mom, my older stepsister and my little brother. My brother had never been on a plane before. When we got off the plane, Dad was right there! It was so great to see his face light up as soon as he saw us.
    Now that he’s home, we go fishing a lot, play ball, just do regular things together.
    Dad was also a leader at the GI Joe Camp we had here in Roswell. It’s a camp for military kids, ages seven to nine, to give them a taste of what it’s like to be in the military. We all got to help. It’s held over a couple of days and there were all sorts of activities, like grenade toss, rock-wall climbing, PT, marching in formation, sleeping in tents. It was cool.
    Some of the little kids there had parents who were in Iraq. It was hard for them. They didn’t talk much. We had to go over to them, reach out to them. They really needed a friend. They’re worrying, wondering about what might happen, and they’re scared. A lot of the time they don’t know any other kids like them. The GI Joe Camp helped them feel not alone.
    I get to travel around a lot with the youth council. They elected me area secretary for my state. One of my jobs is to send out birthday cards when one of the kids has a birthday. The youth council helps us to meet other kids in our situation. We stay in a hotel and have a roommate, but your roommate is a surprise, someone you don’t know. You stay with them during all the activities, like games and scavenger hunts. It’s fun, and it helps. A lot of the kids are so lonely and they don’t know how to express themselves.
    I won’t be joining the military when I get older, eventhough I support the troops. I’d rather be a pediatrician. I like kids, and I like doctors’ offices.
    There are other reasons I don’t want to join. My mom works with military families and she sees what happens to them — things like divorce, and people coming back from the war injured, or not coming back at all. I do not want to be a part of that.
    My mom and dad are my heroes. We’re a very close family. My dad’s always right there when I need him — except when the National Guard sends him away. I’m a good basketball player, and that’s because of my dad.
    My mom really looks after everyone, and it’s hard to look after people in the military. Sometimes she looks after their kids, sometimes they come to her when they’re having a bad day and they just need to talk. People lean on her.
    She’s part of the Family Readiness Group, which helps families get ready for deployment. There are meetings and briefings and paperwork, and she helps with all that. She helps after the family member leaves, too, and when they come home again. She tells families things they can do to make it easier for someone coming home from a war, like don’t have balloons at the Welcome Home party, because if they break they’ll sound like guns, and don’t have