A Soldier's Mother's Day

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6 May 2011 - Meet three amazing women who are striving to balance two duties: family and country

When we think about our armed forces and the sacrifices they make, we probably don't think about this: 72,682 are mothers.

These active-duty moms serve in every branch, at home and overseas, on land and at sea, in nearly every military specialty. Since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, 212,000 women have been deployed there and to Afghanistan, thousands of whom have children back home.

The work is sweaty, dangerous and demanding. But it also is rewarding: A 2008 study reports the No. 1 reason women stay in the armed forces is job satisfaction.

This Mother's Day, we profile three remarkable women warriors. All three are moms and war veterans. One is now in Afghanistan. Moms such as Juanita Wilson, who has served 16 years, even after losing a hand in Iraq. All three have relied heavily on spouses, along with other family, for support during their deployments. Surely, the challenges are especially monumental for the military's 23,500 single mothers.

“I'm so proud of what she does,” says Kenyah Wilson, 12, Juanita's daughter.

So are we. Here is Juanita's story, along with two of her fellow mothers in arms. {continued}

Sally McClain gives her granddaughter Reilly Braswell a hug and a kiss during a weekend when the Braswell family stayed with the McClains. Her daughter Captain Erin Braswell is deployed for a year to Afghanistan with the Army's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Knox. (By Pam Spaulding, The Louisville Courier-Journal) April 24, 2011 / cj

May. 7, 2011 - Sally McClain had gotten used to getting Mother's Day gifts from Iraq. A perfume decanter and a marble vase, both gifts from her daughter, Army Capt. Erin Braswell, now on her fourth deployment, this time in Afghanistan.

McClain pointed them out as she set the table for an Easter eve dinner.

“It's much better to have a daughter over there than a son,” she quipped — but it's a hard-edged comment, tinged with the frustration of a mother with two children serving in the Army.

 

A Soldier's Mother's Day: Sally McClain 's daughter Captain Erin Braswell is deployed to Afghanistan. Once a month McClain meets a friend, Laurie Wolberton, whose son is also a soldier, and they talk about what life is like when your children go to war.

Since the war on terror began in 2001, McClain's oldest son, Maj. Derek McClain, has also been deployed to the Middle East — six times.

On Easter eve, Sally McClain and her husband, Eric, hosted a family dinner at their home in Shelbyville. Erin's husband, Eric, and their two children, Reilly, 6, and Liam, 4, were there, along with the McClains' youngest child, Seth McClain, his wife, Lindsey McClain, and her daughter, Meredith Chaffin, 11.

But the soldiers were missing {continued}