Capt Mom Goes Off to War

The journalist in this great article from the Washington Times (July 4, 2003) perceives what so many contemporary women are missing--motherhood is supremely valuable.

Capt. Mom Goes To War
By Maggie Gallagher

Perhaps in honor of the Fourth of July, Family Circle in its current issue
tells the story of Capt. Mom going to war.

Melody Charles not only had a 1-year-old, but also was eight months pregnant when the Twin Towers fell. "My officer in charge told me he would try to give me as much time with the baby as he could," Melody said, "but I had to be ready to go by spring."

The Army is in the business of fighting and killing, not nurturing. Women as
well as men who join are naturally well-drilled in putting first things first. As a captain married to a major, Melody was required to file plans about who would take care of the kids if both she and her husband were called to serve. Fortunately, her country did not ask that sacrifice, this time.

So this is what her children sacrificed for you and me: At 9 months old,
Jonah was too young to comprehend his mother's absence, according to the
story. But 2-year-old Jacob understood perfectly well when Mommy told him
she was leaving.

"He ran out of the bedroom screaming, 'No, Daddy. No, Daddy.'" husband Mike
recalls.

Mom and Dad held him all night. The next morning, when Jacob woke up, Mommy
was gone. He walked into the bathroom with his blanket and lay down on the
rug she stands on when getting ready for work.

For two days, Jacob threw up after every meal. Every day he asked, "Where's
Mama?" "Mama's in the war," Daddy replied.

For Mama in the war, it was also hard, of course. In her Uzbekistan base
camp, Melody cried herself to sleep every night.

"It helped knowing that other people with children were in just as much
agony," Melody says now. "You get through it because one day, it's your turn
to cry and the next day it's someone else's."

Melody chose this way of life. Plus, Melody had the consolation of a whole
Army of people telling her she was doing the right thing: "If I'm not
willing to fight to protect our nation and our way of life, it won't be
there for my children. So by going, I'm really caring for them."

After six months, Capt. Mom returned home.

"My baby didn't recognize me," Melody recalls. "He wouldn't let me pick him
up that first day." Jacob did remember her, and reacted by alternating
between "being overly needy and pushing her away."

Today family life is back to normal: Capt. Mom, Maj. Dad and kids are
close-knit and loving, deeply appreciative of the time they have together,
aware that simple togetherness cannot, for a military Mom and Dad, be taken
for granted.

A happy story of noble sentiments, patriotic sacrifice and family love,
right? Why else would it appear in a magazine called Family Circle?
Yes, it is a story of all these things, but something more, too. It is an
ongoing story about the process of convincing women there are other, more
important bonds than the one we have with our babies. Any mother cannot help
noticing what a horror story lies at the heart of this patriotic, upbeat
narrative.

No, you cannot blame the Army. It is doing its job, based on policies set by
civilians. Nor can you blame Melody for following through on her vow to
serve her country in time of war.

So I hope the upbeat ending is true - that Jacob and baby Jonah do not
suffer any permanent damage from Mommy's mysterious six-month disappearance.

I know the Army, as it persuades young women to sign up and re-enlist, has
no clue whether this is true. But surely for Jacob and Jonah, a six-month
sentence of suffering is more than enough.

Maggie Gallagher is a nationally syndicated columnist.