Free Republic

Perhaps you heard about the NC mom, Lisa Pagan, who was recalled by the army and made the case that there was no one to care for her children. Her husband travels extensively for his job, and both sets of grandparents live out of state. Having exhausted the appeals process, she showed up for duty with her two kids in tow. Perhaps sensing a PR nightmare, the army has promised that she will be discharged. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090302/ap_on_re_us/military_mom Now I have to say that I have mixed feelings about this story. In one way I totally sympathized with this woman, having pulled...

FORT HUACHUCA — Standing at parade rest before your mom isn’t usually what a daughter has to do. But on this Southern Arizona Army post, when mom is a sergeant and daughter is a private first class, parade rest is the position to take — especially when other soldiers are present. Both women are attending training at the Intelligence Center. Sgt. Sylvia Gamble is working to become an intelligence analyst, and Pfc. Sabrina Gamble is going through the intelligence systems maintainer and integrator course. Sabrina’s enlistment in the Army brought Sylvia back into the ground service. The mother started in...

After attending the “You Don’t Speak For Me, Cindy” rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday, I KNEW I had to do whatever it took to be there for the “Peace and Justice” rally on Saturday. In between taxiing kids to various activities and attending a funeral for a friend, I managed to spend a few hours with some of the most angry, hateful people I have EVER been around in my entire life! It is an experience I will NEVER forget and I am so glad that I was able to go. I was very nervous about going alone,...

I let go at basic training. That was hard. Kind of the same thing now. First, I had to get grips with the fact that my 20 year old was a soldier. Ok, I dealt with it. Now, my daughter is a 22 year old US Soldier. She's so trained, so ready, so hard, I'm really impressed with her abilities. I never thought in my wildest dreams she's be an expert on her weapon, or ace her PT Tests. But, when I visit, she's still my baby, the one I nursed, the one who wouldn't let us remove a wooden...

Only hours after escaping a car bomb threat in Afghanistan, Select Staff Sgt. Patrick Blevins fell in love at first sight with his just-born baby boy, awake and gurgling, in real time at Tucson Medical Center.   Swaddled in baby camouflage, hours-old Blake Ashton Blevins had no idea that was his daddy watching and loving and cooing at him on New Year's Day from   a war zone on the other side of   the world.   But Blevins' wife, Kristy, sure did, as she held her unusually beautiful newborn up to the   webcam for soldier-daddy Patrick to see....