Your family was once “one of us,” but now you are in the civilian world. You wonder, do you still have a place in the military community? The answer is a loud resounding yes! You are always family to us.
We know there are memories, scars, and lessons that you still carry with you every day. There are also a ton of resources to which you have access now that you are officially a “Veteran.” We want to be sure you know how to utilize those resources best. Check out this page to read more about career help, veteran organizations, special events, and opportunities unique to veterans.
From everyone here at Mission: Milspouse we thank you and honor you for your time in service.
For military spouses, life is often full of changes. Moving across the country and around the world. Adapting to new communities and career challenges. Parenting children while your service member is deployed.
Fortunately, military spouses don’t have to navigate military life all on their own. As a military service nonprofit, the USO has supported service members and their families for more than 80 years.
Found among the trove of letters in my mother’s attic, which led me to write “77 Letters, Operation Morale Booster: Vietnam,” this note from Jorge H. Hernandez grabbed my heart and pulled on several heartstrings, compelling me to share his thoughts with you.
Sometimes things come together just at the right time. Call it good fortune. Call it serendipity. Perhaps it’s best described as good things coming to good people.
Just ask the Taft family about it. They will tell you that the Hope For The Warriors New Balance Military Youth Athletic Scholarship arrived at exactly the right time to help their teenage daughter Clara keep her softball dreams alive and reignite her passion for the sport and for life.
To be honest, I didn’t know I was a caregiver. My husband is a combat-wounded Marine, and he was going through the military treatment facilities and then the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton. Even during that time, I still did not realize that I was a caregiver – or that I would be for the rest of my husband’s life. It wasn’t until one day when I was in the waiting room at Balboa Naval Hospital and a lovely nurse asked me the question. She came out and asked, “Are you Stephen’s caregiver?” I quickly pulled back and brushed that off by saying “No, no, my husband is young, I’m just his wife.” Diplomatic and full of wisdom, she smiled at me and said, “You are probably both.”
There’s no argument that the historiography of war can best be studied through those who lived it. But, even a few months away from the battlefield can lessen the depth and intensity of the service members’ memories. Fortunately for us, many service members memorialized their experiences in the form of letters home to their loved ones.
May we all keep those who served and sacrificed so much for our freedoms not far from our hearts and minds, never to be forgotten. The honors described here are worn and displayed with great pride by veterans and surviving families. For those who made the ultimate sacrifice, may we honor and remember them on Memorial Day.
Mission: Milspouse is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
EIN Number: 88-1604492
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
El Paso, TX 79904