Saturday, September 15, 2007

Military Mom's Thoughts on Iraq War


"Not everybody thinks a quick withdrawal of American troops is a good idea. Some feel the U.S. has to keep troops on the frontline there until the situation in that country changes. And some of the people saying that have a personal stake in the war. Chere Pedersen is a proud mom whose pride and joy is seen in pictures all over the house. 'He joined during the time of conflict. He's been in since he was 17 years old and he felt very strongly about it, as do most of our children. So, I support his decision and I support him,' Pedersen said. This military mother's son, 20-year-old Army Specialist Alastair Addie has already come home after a one-year deployment. In January, he's going back to Iraq for 15 months.
Pedersen continued, "He wants to go. He's thinking he is going to be attached this time to the tanks, which he thinks is thrilling."
But it's less than thrilling for Pedersen. She admits her brave face is a front.
"I'm not too happy about the long-term deployments, or too many of them. I think it's hard on them, hard on their families, hard on the kids, but it's really hard on us moms when they are gone that long," she confided.
But Chere says despite her fear, supporting the war in Iraq is a must, not only for her son's sake, but for the safety of those back here in the States. She says all of the negativity by anti-war groups asking for the pull out of troops is hurting our men and women overseas and giving the enemy strength.
She said, "We need to come out victorious. We need to send out a statement that we're not going to let them come over here. "I think the generals know what they are doing."
Pedersen says it's not easy to sit at home and watch coverage of what's unfolding overseas, especially knowing her son is in the middle.
But this mom, who has every reason in the world to want to pull out troops, says if it wasn't for troops like her son, terrorists would be an even bigger threat to us than they are now.
Pedersen is the president of the Blue Star Mothers of America in Southern Nevada. There are 72 mothers in her organization with children overseas.
She says though all may not feel exactly like she does, their group is pro-military. "

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Is Alistair the son of Robert Addie from Robin of Sherwood?