Down the Rabbit Hole - Preparing for War

First, to those who read this blog, I apologize for my tardiness in posting. A visit home from my soldier, supporting a mom whose son's deployment is imminent, family obligations and work have rather gotten in the way of the blog of late.

As I prepare for the difficult months ahead...and sometimes gasp at current events I am reminded often of how quickly things can change. My soldier, after a nice visit home, was quickly sent to the field for a two week training exercise. A few days into the exercise - which of course means I can't contact my son, I heard of a casualty on the field. Unlike the one in the exercises in April/May, this one did not result in a fatality. It does not lessen the strain, however. While my son was home, I also learned where he would be stationed...a particularly nasty area in Afghanistan which due to OPSEC considerations, I will not mention. Once he is "in country", I will post a bit more information.

During our visit, we were able to discuss a few things as the reality of deployment sets in. My son is a single soldier (hopefully, he will stay that way for a bit longer) who has a very dangerous job that could result in serious injury or death. I have read enough accounts of "snafus" in caring for wounded soldiers and decided to educate my son on "advanced directives" for healthcare. We discussed what HE considered to be life...and how to proceed if he were injured in such a matter that he could not reasonably be expected to recover. This was to my mind at least both important and bizzare. We also discussed what type of a funeral he would want (military...not my choice but I would honor his request)

And so I added another thing to my list of things "to do" - obtain a passport because I promised I would be in Germany at his side to make sure, in the event of injury, he would receive proper care.

Happily, the rest of the visit was much less intense. He fretted about getting his new driver's license that takes the red (under 21) background out of the picture - another milestone as he "comes of age".

Over the next few months, there will be more training exercises, a likely trip to Ranger school, a board for "Soldier of the Quarter", and a loving....but very worried mom back at home. I will post more often - sometimes personal - other times political since too often these days the two seem to converge in my life.

Best of luck to Cindy S. in Crawford. I will post more about her story later but I hope she gets the answers she seeks....from the person she seeks them from. It is pretty hot on the prairie in Texas these days....and the stonewall is not a very good example of how to support the family members of those who have served this country.