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.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

The One Percent


"We are called the One Percent, because only ONE PERCENT of the citizens of this country are touched by these wars. Back in the day, ma’am, about 20% of the country knew someone or had a relative in the service." These are the words of a military spouse responding in a blog post to a Vietnam-era military spouse criticizing military spouses who complain about the long and repeated deployments in today's military.

As someone who was in college during the Vietnam War I have often wondered how different things would be today if we still had a draft. I don't suppose it's ever been true that every family bears equally the burdens and costs of its country's wars (student deferments ensured that the middle class could protect its sons to a certain degree during Vietnam), but now, with Americans of service age able to choose not to participate, military versus civilian life is probably the biggest hidden divider of our nation. Many people probably don't know a single deployed person or any member of his or her family. I can't help but note how many of the fallen soldiers are from small towns, or from impoverished urban centers, leaving the affluent almost completely untouched by the burdens and tragedies of today's wars.

We are not all in it together. We should be. We may not all deploy and leave families behind, but we can be a nation serving as one. The best way for many of us to do this is to support--through time, money, and votes--everything that improves the lives of soldiers and their families.
Posted by About AART at 7:39 AM

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