Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day, a day to recognize the service and sacrifices of military spouses. SpouseBUZZ is pleased to welcome guest blogger, Lieutenant General William Caldwell, Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Ft. Leavenworth. I'll turn it over to General Caldwell:
In 1984 President Reagan proclaimed the Friday before Mother's Day of each year to be Military Spouse Appreciation Day. We owe you, American military spouses, a great debt of gratitude for your strength and perseverance, especially during this time of war. Truly, your strength is the strength of our Nation.
All of us who have been deployed have drawn comfort from care packages, love letters, journal entries, holiday decorations, and prayers. Knowing that our Families are well looked after allows us to focus on our task to bring peace and stability to troubled areas of the world. The very security of this great nation is in the hands of our spouses at home.
We've watched you nurse your wounded warriors back to health in military hospitals. You're there, still full of hope, when Troopers with head injuries don't recognize their family. You encourage them. You decorate their rooms. You read their favorite books to them. You are the first to notice when they can squeeze your hand again for the first time.
The spouse on the home front pays the bills, fixes the car, gets the kids to soccer practice, helps with the homework and building the kids pinewood derby car... you are our true heroes. You have unique experiences that only other military spouses can comprehend.
Some spouses, like Deanna Salie, have had to comfort children when there was someone in uniform at the door, and when dad didn't come home. Deanna's husband, Army SFC David Salie, gave the ultimate sacrifice in Baqouba, Iraq, on Valentine's Day in 2005. In one of David's "just in case" videos he made for Deanna before he left for Iraq, he asked Deanna that in the event something did happen to him, "Hold our kids tight for me, and make sure they know who their daddy was and what he stood for."
All military spouses know why their loved ones serve, and they share in their hardship and sacrifice and ask for little in return. It is humbling to those of us who wear the uniform to know that our best friends, our spouses, are serving along side us. Those of us in uniform serve because we love our Nation; our spouses do it for love of us. Our service men and women could not continue in this profession without your help, and for that we are eternally grateful....and so is our Nation.
Thank you for your guest post, General Caldwell. It's nice to see "the brass" reaching out to military spouses. And thanks to all military spouses for what you do each day to support your spouse, and each other.
