[agould53]

My name is Major Aaron Gould. I’m an active duty Army officer, attending the Command and General Staff Officer Course. One of my assignments is to use Internet to try to “tell the Army story” to people who may not otherwise have contact with the Army. So, I’m writing this for my wife…to tell a short story about her strength, and about the strength of thousands of other Army wives. Shauna and I moved to Fort Campbell, Kentucky in Dec of 2002, and I was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. We moved into a brand new house, along with our 2-year-old daughter, Lauren. Three months later, I deployed to Iraq; our twins (Andrew and Audrey) were about 20 days old. We had been in our new home for 3 months when she essentially became a single parent of a 2-year-old and newborn twins. During the deployment, Andrew was diagnosed with a serious condition that required months of therapy. Eventually he was scheduled for a major emergency surgery. I arrived home on emergency leave the night before his surgery. When I left in March the twins were 5 pounds. When I returned they were almost a year old.
This was our first major deployment. We were in a new town. We had 3 children ages 2 and younger. Shauna had no friends, and only received occasional visits from family members. There’s no doubt in my mind that I would have fallen apart. But she never had a single major issue or breakdown. I was and still am totally amazed by her strength and patience.
I deployed to Iraq again in Nov 2005. I was a company commander, responsible for around 100 soldiers and their families. This time Shauna was my Family Readiness Group leader. Not only did she care for our three children, but she also volunteered to be the mentor, friend, mother, big sister, etc, for around 50 other young spouses in my company…many only in their teens or early 20s. During both deployments she was under overwhelming stresses of many different kinds, but she made it through. Being the mom and dad simultaneously was far from easy. Through these trying times, she has always been supportive of me, and of the great things that our military is doing for other people around the world. Struggling through these challenges has also done wonders for her self-confidence. She knows now that she can do anything.
Our situation is not uncommon at all. Many brave young military spouses have fought through similar circumstances, and deserve to be celebrated. My point here was to tell Shauna’s story and pay tribute to all of the other patriotic, devoted, and hard-working military spouses making tremendous sacrifices for our country. I hope that a few members learned something about what Army families willingly sacrifice while serving the Nation. Of course, this post represents my personal feelings, and not any official position of the United States government.