European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                1 /. At spec. Hollie Vallance said a. Goodbye to her daughter Cheyenne when she was deployed from fori Buhning ga., to the. Middle East in August o a. Their families. That May be naive a after All what s the military for a but it s nevertheless the Case. The Israel defense forces drafts women but exempts them for marriage motherhood religion Etc. Israeli military women Are generally clerks nurses Drill instructors teachers secretaries and Ocial workers. By. Law they Are evacuated from the front during hostilities. In Iraq women serve in the civil defense Force but not in the army \. To. To. To it is True that staying Back can adversely affect a career and that mothers would not get jobs and training that Lead to a combat theater and Quick promotions. But is that an unreasonable sacrifice to make if they decide to become parents a. A. A in any Case my concern Here is not primarily with the. Mothers although they Are to be pitied but with their. Children. The children after All had no Choice at All. Do we Tell impoverished mothers that we will not care for their children because they have made the wrong choices do. We Tell their children to look elsewhere n a. What about the children whose mothers Are actually at War listen to Kate Jacobs a Washington child. Psychologist who is treating children of military dependents who have been or Are. Being sent away. For the very Young child the absence of a Parent to like be death of a Parent Quot says. Jacobs. Quot you create an orphan if you Send the main caretaker away. We Are going to have to protect these children. Their mothers Are conflicted and torn. They have to use denial in order to go. They can t face what s happening to their  a military child psychiatrist in Washington who asked not to be identified says Quot we re going to be dealing with the effect of what we re doing for a Long time. It s the children who Are paying the . Jacobs tells of some problems that could arise some All too familiar to me she cites eating disorders. Overeating or under eating a Quot a child can literally starve himself to  and sleep deprivation a Quot during sleep the defences go Down and we regress. That s too . And toileting a the child literally May hold it in Quot the child can t let co of another thing. You can die from  she also mentions anxiety disorders avoid ant disorder and separation anxiety. A a. T a the Washington Post. Reported from fort Hood Texas that two weeks after the War began four sixth graders whose fathers have been deployed were hospitalized for depression.  these Are Normal healthy children what about Robin Rutledge an army specialist from fort Carson col who had to separate her two children leaving 7 year old Zachary with her sex husband Zachary has. Cerebral palsy. She could t quit because she needed the army s medical insurance. Taking mothers away from their children in this situation is not a rational policy Blit a cruel one. A a 1. T a by a. Some lawmakers Are wondering what to do Aboul this. Sort of problem. Rep. Barbara Boxer d-calit., recently. Introduced legislation Quot to prevent the assignment of both military parents of minor children to a combat zone a Boxer said she decided to introduce the Bill after Atrip. To the Gulf in january when parents talked to her about the  left behind. Quot they were anxious nervous. Hysterical says Boxer. A rep. Pat Schroeder a Cojo says she remains. Uncertain Quot How things  ultimately with the. Families a she also says Quot the system we be got int bad if people take it  problem is they did  As for mothers being away from their children she says a this is not a Mommy Issue per be. This is a Parent Issue j. Schroeder has proposed that defense Secretary Dick Cheney Grant a  leave for both parents for. The first 18 weeks of a child a life. A sen. John r. Heinz a a. Has been urging a voluntary change in Pentagon policy recognizing that legislation to exempt single parents and military couples. Probably  take effect uni if Well after the War is Over. A a it a Quot a Quot our military is going to great lengths not to kill civilians a in Iraq Quot he says. Quot i d like to take As least As much care that orphans Are not created by . Military Parent policies Quot j. A. A a a a a a a a a a. Cheney and Gen. Colin a Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said in a letter to Senate majority Leader George Mitchell that the Pentagon has been Quot sensitive to the needs of All of our families Quot adding that Quot it would be a serious mistake particularly while we Are engaged in. Combat to reverse our longstanding policy.,�?T�?T Heinz replying argued that the Issue is spirituality Akin to the american Quot sole survivor provisions Quot which Date from world War ii. A. A. Powell and Cheney argue that redeploying single a a parents and military couples would Quot weaken our combat capability by removing key personnel. And by undermining our unit cohesion and Esprit de  Schroeder makes this Point Quot everyone will Tell you that the most important thing is High morale it s better to have people who want to be there than having to draft people who done to want to be . It that a so what Are we thinking of when we Send mothers single parents or worse both parents into a War when they Are crazed with worry Over their children to put things in perspective childrens Hospital i Washington has designated 55 Beds for wounded soldiers from the Gulf a a reminder of the costs of sending our 18-and 19-year-Olds to War. But no provisions have been made for the children whose mothers have gone to War even though some of them May suffer fora lifetime. In fact the 6nly sensible provision our nation can make is to forbid it. Brazelton has it right mothers Aren t relevant. To defeat or Victory.  if we can t win a War without our mothers what kind of a sorry fighting Force Are we even the evil Saddam Hussein does no to Send mothers to fight his War. A and what kind of policy is it for a nation to Send both parents single parents or mothers to War a shameful and a uncivilized policy that s what for the Sake of Pur children if not their parents we must do something about this now not when the War is Over. We Don t need legislation to change this All it requires is a directive from the president or  of defense. Go for it George go for it. Dick bring our mothers Home a february 16,1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15