My son is leaving on Monday and I am not sure how I will handle the newsflow. Just looking at breaking news for the last two weeks have had me on edge due to all the attacks. My son has a wife, 2 sons and 1 more due in 3 weeks. I have seen other military family members read and follow these threads with their hearts in their hands.
My son believes in his mission and I support him 150%. I just wish the damn DSM would consider the feelings of family members when reporting their garbage.
(((Hugs)))
How will you handle it? You'll be ok lady...remember you've got a couple of thousand (at least) people praying for you and you son.
(IM (not so) HO) the milblogs are a much better source of info on what's going on in Iraq.
Crying Gold Star Mothers who Blame Bush make great television.
Don't watch any news if you can avoid it. If you have to watch TV for news, Fox News is the lesser of all the evils, IMHO. Plenty of good sources for fair and balanced news on the internet.
Try to learn where your Marine is and what he does. A Fobbit (somebody who never goes outside the wire, like me) aboard Taqaddum is safer than he would be at Pendleton. No alcohol and no motorcycles. On the other hand, a rifleman on some Combat Outpost or a CH-46 crewman or a Humvee gunner on Main Supply Route Mobile is earning every dime. The particular type of unit he is in and his Military Occupational Specialty can give you some clues, if you know how to interpret them, but every Marine is a rifleman and a file clerk can be reassigned as a road warrior pretty quick.
Understand that Iraq is a big place, and Anbar Province is the biggest province in Iraq, so bad things can can be reported happening in a place far away from where your son is, and he might not even hear about them.