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.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

On-Post Schools in Jeopardy?

A disturbing story hit my inbox this morning about a new study from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.  The eighteen-member commission is due to report to President Obama in December about ways the Department of Defense budget could be cut to address the skyrocketing national debt.   The commission apparently is going to propose cutting or eliminating on-base schools.  The budget for these schools is approximately $1.8 billion.


School closures could have a profound effect on the education of military children.  On-base schools have a number of advantages, including coordinated curriculum and testing, so that a child who transfers from one base to another steps into a familiar curriculum at the same point as his or her classmates.  Post schools also have faculty and staff trained to deal with issues affecting military children, and extracurricular activities have their needs in mind.


If these school are poor quality, or seriously underattended, or problematic in some other way, I might feel differently, but on first learning of this proposal, I was stunned by the heartlessness of it.  Military children pay such a price for their parents' service, and concerns for their welfare are increasingly well-documented and justified. To take something away from military children is the opposite of saying thank you. It also will simply shift burdens to public schools and services, eliminating nothing in the end.  It is likely to be a false savings and possibly a very true loss.  I will write more as I learn details.  Please post a comment if you have any information.
Posted by About AART at 8:16 AM

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