Military Moms At War Find Support and Recognition Online

Wartime pulls military mothers away from the home, but never far from family and friends through online community.

While many civilian mothers come home after a hard days work, we are sometimes too tired to take advantage of the opportunity to embrace our children for a moment and instead opt for immediately changing out of our clothes and soaking ourselves in the bathtub. We sometimes fail to see how precious time is and how a childs 5-second hug can really lower our blood pressure and calm our nerves, but for military mothers who are deployed to war and away from their children, they are never without a moments thought to that invitation.

MilitaryMommy Online is a web-based community focusing on and supporting the needs of our active duty and dependent military mothers. The community allows military mothers away from their families to connect on a regular basis through web-based interactivity such as chat rooms, discussion boards, and web conferencing software. The community also allows dependent mothers to connect with their deployed spouses in the same manner, as well as seek assistance and support from military-friendly companies and friends.

The mothers who visit the community are seeking a place for comfort in a time when war and economic hardship are not too kind to them these days. They are seeking relief from stress, anxiety, heartaches, and answers to the most common question during wartime; Will everything be alright?" The support is there for them from family, friends, and military-friendly companies. Many are going through the same situation, whether through a spouse, a friend, or a family member; like death itself, war has no sympathy.

A deployed mother, and member of the MilitaryMommy Community, wrote to the families seeking solitude from her daily militant activities and stated:

My husband and I left our 18 month old son to be stationed in the "giant sandbox." My husband was supposed to be stationed in Okinawa, Japan in February 2003 for a 6 month deployment but in mid-January, he was called to Kuwait instead. We left within days of one another, saying goodbye to a little boy that would be grown up by the time we get home. Just thinking of him gives me more pride in what we do. I miss my family but I also know that my family is worth fighting for. I am fighting so that we don't have to be afraid of our daily lives like so many other people around the world are. If anything should happen, I am proud to be one of the soldiers that will be involved. Every soldier has the chance to make a difference, no matter how big or how small, we will all make a difference that will change the way that we live in America.

It is the courage and the sacrifices of these women who shape the future for our children and ourselves. They are sometimes criticized for leaving their true duties as a mother and choosing war over their children", but all I can say to that is; Isnt a mothers duty to shape their childrens future, to make it better for them, and allow them the FREEDOM to grow? And if that is so, then a military mother who chooses to defend her country and sacrifice being with her family is a prime example of a true mother for she is not only shaping her childs future for a better way of life, but she is also sacrificing the things she wants in life for her child to have the freedom of happiness."

I encourage all families, friends, and companies to support the military mother because not only does she have the daily duties and responsibilities that a civilian mother has, but she also has the duty and responsibility of protecting your freedom to read this story.

Beth Mahoney, beth@militarymommy.com, 1-877-801-5370. Proud military wife and devoted mother of three. For more information about MilitaryMommy Online, visit www.militarymommy.com