Mom goes AWOL from Iraq - says children need her at home

A woman on 15 day leave in the US from Iraq is refusing to return
to Iraq - she says her 7 children need her at home and that she is quitting the
military. The US govt. says otherwise and may prosecute her for desertion.

Apparently her husband is also in the military and the childrens grandmother has
been caring for the children while they have been gone.

This presents a touchy situation for the Pentagon. Do you want to look like you
are beating up on a mother of 7 by sending her to prison or do you let her
out and set an example that others are going to use to get out of their military
obligations?.

I saw the story on CNN this morning.

In article , Ignoramus14934 says...

I am sorry for the kids, but not as sorry for the mother.

What was she thinking enrolling in the military with 7 kids with the
husband also in the military?

That she had alternate arrangements should the occassion arise that they both be
deployed, apparently. The grandmother, and the OP's description doesn't say if
her husband is deployed - just that he's military. I haven't chased down the
story.

The problem is a change of heart once she saw the kiddies again.

But, yup, if she's AWOL, she's to be prosecuted, and I dont' think the Pentagon
will face the backlash for it the OP thinks. I think folks are starting to get
tired of that subset of contemporary military personnel who didn't really
internalize that war might be part of the pitcure when they joined and are
bitching about the situation.

Although I get the feeling there's more to the story..

Banty (military brat myself)

In article , Ignoramus14934 says...



Well, sure. We have a volunteer military, so they better fight the
wars that they were paid for. Personally, I think that it is not very
smart to join national guard. Especially if you have 7 kids.

So, how much of your opinion is from not thinking it smart to join when you have
a large family, and how much of it is from not thinking it smart to join *at
all*? Did you really mean the second sentence?

Banty

"John Stone" wrote in message
m...
A woman on 15 day leave in the US from Iraq is refusing to return
to Iraq - she says her 7 children need her at home and that she is
quitting the
military. The US govt. says otherwise and may prosecute her for
desertion.

Apparently her husband is also in the military and the childrens
grandmother has
been caring for the children while they have been gone.

This presents a touchy situation for the Pentagon. Do you want to look
like you
are beating up on a mother of 7 by sending her to prison or do you let her
out and set an example that others are going to use to get out of their
military
obligations?.

I saw the story on CNN this morning.

I'm not so sure the 2 weeks of R&R is a good idea anyway. I can't imagine
having to get my kids used to dad being gone *again*. I bet tons of
military personnel will go UA/AWOL.

I feel for the grandmother, I *can* imagine how hard it is for her. Not
only the complete lifestyle change, but also the worry of her child and
child-in-law being in Iraq.

That being said, too bad so sad. She knew the consequences when she signed
on the dotted line *and* had children. Plenty of dual military families are
dealing with this and they haven't deserted.

--
Sophie -
TTC #4

Banty wrote in message ...
In article , Ignoramus14934 says...

I am sorry for the kids, but not as sorry for the mother.

What was she thinking enrolling in the military with 7 kids with the
husband also in the military?

That she had alternate arrangements should the occassion arise that they both be
deployed, apparently. The grandmother, and the OP's description doesn't say if
her husband is deployed - just that he's military. I haven't chased down the
story.

The problem is a change of heart once she saw the kiddies again.

But, yup, if she's AWOL, she's to be prosecuted, and I dont' think the Pentagon
will face the backlash for it the OP thinks. I think folks are starting to get
tired of that subset of contemporary military personnel who didn't really
internalize that war might be part of the pitcure when they joined and are
bitching about the situation.

Although I get the feeling there's more to the story..

Banty (military brat myself)



With 7 kids it was probably the necessity of some kind of job. I
suspect that
is why she joined but she probably didn't give the long term
implications as much thought as she should have.

If things stay ugly in Iraq I suspect we will see more AWOL attempts
when they
come back for their 15 day leave (both men and women).

In article , John Stone says...

Banty wrote in message
...
In article , Ignoramus14934 says...

I am sorry for the kids, but not as sorry for the mother.

What was she thinking enrolling in the military with 7 kids with the
husband also in the military?

That she had alternate arrangements should the occassion arise that they both be
deployed, apparently. The grandmother, and the OP's description doesn't say if
her husband is deployed - just that he's military. I haven't chased down the
story.

The problem is a change of heart once she saw the kiddies again.

But, yup, if she's AWOL, she's to be prosecuted, and I dont' think the Pentagon
will face the backlash for it the OP thinks. I think folks are starting to get
tired of that subset of contemporary military personnel who didn't really
internalize that war might be part of the pitcure when they joined and are
bitching about the situation.

Although I get the feeling there's more to the story..

Banty (military brat myself)



With 7 kids it was probably the necessity of some kind of job. I
suspect that
is why she joined but she probably didn't give the long term
implications as much thought as she should have.

Um, that's not the problem.

Assuming the issue is that grandma was unable to provide the backup care if/when
both parents are deployed (neither of which is actually clear from your OP), the
problem is that the child's father joined the military thereby making this
predicament possible.

This is at least as likely a source of the problem as your suggestion.

Now coming from a military family myself, I'll tell you that large families are
actually rather common - people join for the medical benefits, and because the
military has been a path to upwards mobility for many families. The *real*
problem here is that many have not truly considered that war may be part of the
picture.

But many details being unclear, despite your eagerness to tag the mother with
fault (although it does sound like she's AWOL, but that's *it*), I'd like to
get, as Paul Harvey says - The Rest Of The Story.

Cheers,
Banty

On 5 Nov 2003 16:59:35 GMT, Ignoramus14934 wrote:
In article , Banty wrote:
In article , Ignoramus14934 says...



Well, sure. We have a volunteer military, so they better fight the
wars that they were paid for. Personally, I think that it is not very
smart to join national guard. Especially if you have 7 kids.

So, how much of your opinion is from not thinking it smart to join
when you have a large family, and how much of it is from not
thinking it smart to join *at all*? Did you really mean the second
sentence?

Well, it is pretty irrational to join the national guard, unless you
want long exciting assignments like searching for insurgents in Iraq.


Ummmm.... you do realize that there are people out there who
believe that they owe service to their country, right?

The National Guard is a perfectly fine way of doing that. Sure,
there are people who joined in the expectation that they'd never
be called into conflict, but there are also people who, while they
certainly wouldn't WANT to go into battle, accept that it's
also a possibility. Not to mention helping out in natural
and manmade disasters, etc, that can take them away from home on
short notice, and for long terms.

Sheesh.

My husband is career active duty Navy and has been gone for long periods of
time throughout the years. I understand the hardships but why join if you
already have kids and aren't prepared for the possibility of deployment. We
thought LONG & HARD - BEFORE we decided to have a child, and that was with
him having already been in for 14 years.

Mare


"Sophie" wrote in message
...
"John Stone" wrote in message
m...
A woman on 15 day leave in the US from Iraq is refusing to return
to Iraq - she says her 7 children need her at home and that she is
quitting the
military. The US govt. says otherwise and may prosecute her for
desertion.

Apparently her husband is also in the military and the childrens
grandmother has
been caring for the children while they have been gone.

This presents a touchy situation for the Pentagon. Do you want to look
like you
are beating up on a mother of 7 by sending her to prison or do you let
her
out and set an example that others are going to use to get out of their
military
obligations?.

I saw the story on CNN this morning.

I'm not so sure the 2 weeks of R&R is a good idea anyway. I can't imagine
having to get my kids used to dad being gone *again*. I bet tons of
military personnel will go UA/AWOL.

I feel for the grandmother, I *can* imagine how hard it is for her. Not
only the complete lifestyle change, but also the worry of her child and
child-in-law being in Iraq.

That being said, too bad so sad. She knew the consequences when she
signed
on the dotted line *and* had children. Plenty of dual military families
are
dealing with this and they haven't deserted.

--
Sophie -
TTC #4

"Sophie" wrote in message
...
"John Stone" wrote in message
m...
A woman on 15 day leave in the US from Iraq is refusing to return
to Iraq - she says her 7 children need her at home and that she is
quitting the
military. The US govt. says otherwise and may prosecute her for
desertion.

Apparently her husband is also in the military and the childrens
grandmother has
been caring for the children while they have been gone.

This presents a touchy situation for the Pentagon. Do you want to look
like you
are beating up on a mother of 7 by sending her to prison or do you let
her
out and set an example that others are going to use to get out of their
military
obligations?.

I saw the story on CNN this morning.

I'm not so sure the 2 weeks of R&R is a good idea anyway. I can't imagine
having to get my kids used to dad being gone *again*. I bet tons of
military personnel will go UA/AWOL.

I feel for the grandmother, I *can* imagine how hard it is for her. Not
only the complete lifestyle change, but also the worry of her child and
child-in-law being in Iraq.

That being said, too bad so sad. She knew the consequences when she
signed
on the dotted line *and* had children. Plenty of dual military families
are
dealing with this and they haven't deserted.

--
Sophie -
TTC #4

Does anyone know if this is the family that was profiled in TIME magazine?
I remember a family with lots of kids, and both parents were sent to Iraq,
with the grandmother leaving her then somewhat not terribly healthy husband
to take care of the kids. After the grandmother got there the grandfather
took a turn for the worse, she couldn't go back to help and has been
watching these kids and worrying about her husband and having no idea when
anyone is coming home. The stress was wearing on the grandmother, and her
health was beginning to look iffy. It was an excellent article detailing how
much hardship war puts these families in, even when they thought they had
back up. I'm disappointed our military can't give these families more help
back home. I'd pay more taxes for that.

"Mary" wrote in message
...
My husband is career active duty Navy and has been gone for long periods
of
time throughout the years. I understand the hardships but why join if you
already have kids and aren't prepared for the possibility of deployment.
We
thought LONG & HARD - BEFORE we decided to have a child, and that was with
him having already been in for 14 years.

Mare


Yep, mine's an active duty Marine. Each child was planned (one around a
deployment). She's crazy if she thought she'd never have to leave her
children at some point.

--
Sophie