THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511230016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
I read with interest your series telling of the long separations and difficulties Navy families endure when spouses prepare to leave on deployments.
As a former Navy wife, an Army veteran and a 15-year Army wife, I find much information lacking regarding Army families.
We Army families endure the same difficulties Navy families do, plus a lot more. Our spouses are gone overseas from one year to 18 months, often with a new home-base assignment upon their return.
Army families left behind have no units on which to rely in emergencies, no co-workers or old commands for help, no support groups, no ship-shore phone calls, no free home visits - and neighbors sometimes too self-absorbed to offer help.
If extended families are unavailable and/or funds are short, things can get pretty rough and very lonely. The few times I did reach out and ask for help, I was amazed to find I was labeled a ``crybaby'' and a ``whiner.''
I was recently informed by higher-ups that the armed forces are not ``specifically obligated'' to Army families in this situation.
Although Navy families have it difficult, compare their situation and options with how the Army protects and cares for the families of GIs.
SANDRA J. DORSEY
Virginia Beach, Nov. 13, 1995 by CNB