When my father, Odysseus, and his men sailed off to the Trojan War, they were confident their gods favored a quick victory. Instead, the siege of Troy lasted ten years. After Troy fell, the survivors made their way home to Sparta, Mycenae, Pylos, and elsewhere in the ancient Peloponnese. Neither my father nor any of his troops arrived home with the rest. We waited for years as the news grew worse. Odysseus was dead, we were told,or imprisoned, or, worst yet, he had married another woman and abandoned my mother Penelope, my brother Telemachus, and me.


If he is alive somewhere, his thoughts may wander to Penelope and Telemachus, but he won’t be thinking of me. I am the daughter he doesn’t know exists. Odysseus went off to the Trojan War when his son, Telemachus, was barely old enough to walk. His wife, Penelope, was a teenage bride, and is now a young wife, mother, and queen who has to try to rule Ithaca without him.


I was born seven months after he left. I am a hero’s daughter and a princess of his realm, but I have lived my entire life without a father. I’m nineteen now, and still waiting.


All over the world, and throughout history children grow up as I have. This website will focus on the children of those men and women who have gone off to fight America's wars, and provide information and resources for all who care about military families and want to help.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

"I'm the star!" "No, I'm the star!"


This kind of talk is common among kids at camp anywhere, but some kids can't just call up their parents to brag. Operation Purple Camp is a joint venture of the National Military Family Association and the Sierra Club. In 2010 60 week-long camps all over the United States served 10,000 children of deployed servicemen and women, for a total of more than 30,000 campers since the inception of the program in 2004. To be part of the program, camps must apply and participate in a special training program to ensure the camp will be well focused on the needs and experiences of the campers. Here's a video segment from the program "American Veteran," showing the camp and campers in action.

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