The human side of war

Have you seen the story about the little girl in Pennsylvania who didn't want to say goodbye to her dad when he shipped out to Iraq? If not, the link is at the right.

If you forget, or worse yet don't realize, what our armed forces give up for us, then you need to read this story. They give up so much of their personal lives and this story is a reminder of that. Whether or not you agree with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you have to appreciate the sacrifices they make and the time lost away from loved ones.

The story apparently originated with the family's local newspaper when the girl's mother took a photo and passed it along to her aunt, who subsequently passed the image on to the local newspaper. The story has now made the rounds on the Internet.

The photo with this story, taken by the girl's mother during the deployment this past summer, tells the whole story. If it doesn't tug at you even a little bit you might want to check you pulse. And like most human interest stories involving the military it seems, there is another child on the way. Hopefully a child who will get to see her dad.