Don't forget what soldiers left behind

I started this story in 2001, shortly after Sept. 11 and the tragic events that rocked this country.

The day's images still stick in our minds as the anniversary returns every year. For some of us, the day lives on as if it were yesterday. For the families of soldiers, it was the beginning of a new way of life.

The Iraqi war five-year anniversary has come and gone, and the end is no more near now than it was that day in May 2003 when President Bush declared "Mission accomplished."

The coffins continue to arrive with the bodies of our fallen, so far to date, over 4,000 men and women have fallen for a war that's turned into a cycle of never ending deployments and empty promises of "welcome home" salutes.

Today's National Guard and Reservist families face extraordinary circumstances that in ordinary times would break most families.

My story began Sept. 11, 2001 but the end continues to be stretched farther and farther from the beginning.

Some days I wonder if it will ever end and other days it hardly creeps into our lives - until your spouse makes that call and says, "honey, I've been deployed."

As the wife of an officer in the U.S. Army, I've stood by his endless weekends in the National Guard, I've accompanied him to the countless events that honor and dictate the life my husband and soldiers he commands, courageously live.

My husband and his troops have recently returned from a 400-day deployment overseas.

As the presidential campaign rounds its last turn before the election and I continue to say goodbye to Illinois guardsmen who are now on their second deployment, I turn in complete disgust at the behavior of John McCain.

Friend to the military, particularly the guard and reserve, McCain is not. He voted against the GI Bill because the service requirements didn't meet his standards.

He has flip-flopped on torture, leaving our soldiers vulnerable and at risk as he continues to drum into the public that he will immerse us into the Middle East for possibly 100 years.

As we remember the victims of Sept. 11 and all the soldiers who've given their lives since then, let us not forget what the soldiers leave behind.

We owe it to the returning soldier to give them back a strong economy, a government that honors their commitment in return for the sacrifice they've given and a stronger family that is able to bring their soldier home with pride and dignity.

Danette Hayes

Buffalo Grove