Of tearful and picturesque scenes of reunion

There's a jumble of thoughts running through my head right now, while I am a fairly fast typist it's no where near the speed I need to remotely capture what I've been thinking about this evening.

I still see the almost score sheet tally of deaths reported on the news, probably why I tend to avoid the news, nothing but negativity. To some it would probably be touted as propaganda, but I've found this site to have some interesting movie clip down loads of the more positive things going on over there.

I was thinking of who else I know that's currently in the Armed Forces, can't believe a cousin's relatively new husband has just returned from a year rotation in Iraq. This has been the largest mobilization and deployment of Alaska's National/Territorial Guard since World War II. What made me think of him is the immature stunts my cousin is deciding she wants to play now that he's come home. Two weeks after they were married, he got deployed, nine months later he was given leave to come home to witness the birth of his son. My cousin is definitely not taking the responsibilities of not only a new wife, a new mother or an army wife very seriously, to me even being family it's just an immature girl playing "house".

There's been a lot of talk going about town of her saying that now she's thinking of divorcing him. That I can't believe she'd do, well maybe I could, but to throw in the towel at the first sign of trouble, definitely won't go far in life with attitudes like that. I also can't believe she'd do that to him right after spending a year deployed. If she did, I wouldn't put it past him of turning around and volunteering to go back, probably with a death wish the second go around.

One thing that's been on my mind a lot lately with all the rotations of units back home and the picturesque scene of a soldier returning to the loving embrace of family. What they don't show is the soldier who's returned to none of this, watching it from the sidelines to which he or she was quickly ushered. Some of these were the ones that broke up with their SO before leaving, got the "dear john" letter either right before or while deployed, or has family that's not approved of their choice for service.

I was apart of this second group, the single people who shoulder a greater burden so that married soldier can spend more time with their families. The ones who are stuck on duty over the holidays, refused leave/passes and are hit up by married soldier to cover shifts that they came up on the roster.

There was a bit of resentment towards my fellow soldier then. The married folk having the band, cameras, the tearful reunions, the waving signs, flags and yellow ribbons. The single soldiers ushered out of the way and directed towards the arms room to begin turn in of "sensitive" items like night vision, GPS and weapons.

The almost getting selected for detail right off the plane so that we could assist the married armorer complete his inventory so that he could go home to his family. The going back to an empty room, the only thing awaiting us is a banded wall walker that must be unpacked and inventory lest there some items that "walked off" while gone.

I don't begrudge the reunions, just wish that once in a while that the plight of the single soldier be made known.