Off to War Read Online Free PDF Page A

she’s a soldier first when she’s over there, and as a soldier, she had to be stern. Sometimes the insurgents will strap a bomb to a kid, or tell the kids to distract the soldiers, and while the soldiers are busy with the kids, the terrorists attack. So Mom had to be strict and keep them away from the truck so that she could make sure she was safe and everyone else was safe, too.
    I have no clue why the United States is in Iraq. I really don’t know why we went in there. I never watch the news. Not deliberately, anyway. Sometimes I’m in an airport or someplace, and the news will be on the television, so I’ll see it then. Sometimes it’s about Iraq, but I can’t make any sense of it.
    I attended an Operation Purple summer camp this year. It’s a special camp put on by the Military Family Association for kids who have a parent deployed overseas somewhere. It’s a chance for us to get together and have fun.
    You see, some soldiers are part of the regular army, or navy or air force or marines, and their kids live with them right on military bases. Those kids have other military kids for friends, and everybody understands what everybody else is going through. But some soldiers belong to the Reserves, or to the National Guard, and their kids just live in regular towns without any other military kids around. So when they say to their friends, “My mom is in Iraq,” the friends might say, “Oh, she’s going to die,” or “Where’s Iraq?” They don’t get it.
    At the camp, everybody was in the same situation, so we didn’t have to explain anything. We could just tell each other what was going on, and we understood. I made all kinds of new friends.
    Some of the time we did regular overnight camp stuff. We stayed in cabins, went swimming, rock-climbing. There was a dunking booth, lots of games. I didn’t get to rappel, but I did go on the rip line. You put on a harness and hook yourself up to a thick wire and go sailing through the trees. It was great.
    They also had a Military Day. Some folks from the army brought in armored vehicles and a helicopter, and we got to see them up close, and we got to try on some army clothes, like helmets and boots. The soldiers have to wear forty pounds of clothes, which must be very hot in the desert.
    They also handed out MREs, which stands for Meals Ready to Eat. They’re for when the soldiers have to eat their meals out in the field, away from a proper kitchen. They ran out before they got to me, so I didn’t get one, but I saw what was in them: regular food like chicken and stew, rice, vegetables, crackers, mixed fruit, plus drinks and M&M’s, and a mocha latte drink everyone said was really good.
    For discussions, the camp people divided us into three groups. One was for kids whose parents have been deployed already and have come home. One was for kids whose parents are deployed now, and one was for kids whose parents are going to be deployed but they haven’t left yet. We talked about our experiences and our feelings, what it meant to us and how it changed us. Those of us who have been through it got to give advice to the others about how to stay strong and be positive and take care of yourself and your family.
    I really want to join the military when I get older. When I get to high school I’ll join the army ROTC and I’ll learn a lot there that will prepare me for the regular army. ROTC will also help pay for my college tuition and books and things. The job I want to do is to be a journalist in the army. I like to write, so it would be a perfect job. Mom and I looked it up. You go into the war, right into it with the rest of the soldiers and interviewpeople and report what they say, just like a newscaster. But you’re with the army as well, so you get all the benefits.
    Dad doesn’t want me to do it. He thinks it will be too dangerous, and he doesn’t want me to get hurt. But Mom