[Vision2020] Not Telling Full Story (172nd Stryker Brigade)

[Tom Hansen]

>From the "Letters" section of the August 21, 2006 edition of the Army Times
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Not telling full story

I was angered and frustrated by the extremely negative spin placed on the
extension of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the ArmyTimes.com
article "Tour extension wreaks havoc upon Stryker soldiers' lives" [Aug. 3].

My husband, Chaplain (Capt.) Steve Dunn, is one of the soldiers who was due
back within days and who is being extended. When I received the news, I was
shocked and I experienced all the grief emotions associated with this type
of loss. I still feel them to some extent every day.

But that does not define me and it will not be the attitude by which I live
my life.

I was disappointed that you focused on the marriages that are breaking up
but not on the strong marriages and the strong wives who will wait as long
as necessary for their husbands.

The Army has bent over backwards to make sure each and every person who is
experiencing difficulties due to the extension are worked with individually
to assure a satisfactory outcome. I have never felt such a sense of
community as during the deployment this year, and especially this last week.

My husband celebrated his 40th birthday and our 10th anniversary in Mosul,
Iraq. Our second son was born during the deployment and my husband was not
able to be here for the birth. He will probably not be home before our son's
first birthday, either.

These losses do not define our family. Rather, our family is defined by the
love we have for each other that spans the globe, the pride my sons and I
have in our brave husband and "Dadda," the friendship of the other strong
Army families we are privileged to know and the peace we have in knowing
that God will bring us through this.

This extension was quite a blow to all of us and it caused indescribable
pain and innumerable tears.

But that is not where the story ends.

It ends with wives pulling together for hugs and prayers.

It ends with mothers tucking their babies into bed each night next to
pictures of their brave fathers, like they have done for the last year and
will continue to do as long as they are called to.

It ends with the "Welcome home" signs being hung and the reunion outfits
being picked out.

And, ultimately, it ends with our brave soldiers doing their job and coming
back home to the outstretched arms of their waiting families.

That is where your story should have ended. I'm afraid it fell far short.

Holly Dunn
Fort Wainwright, Alaska

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.