Military family

“ It mast be a terrible trial for my poor sister, Olive, and a great imposition on her good nature, having you here. You consider no one. And I might have been a grandmother in time too, although I don't so much mind about that, for I don't think it is any blessing to a military man to have a family. ”

“ I like to regard the regiment as one large family; and when we consider the manifold clangers we dare, and the sufferings we endure together, all soldiers—officers and men alike—more than any other human community, have reasons for strong mutual attachment, and for feeling themselves indeed brothers. There are some of the brotherhood, however, over whom I have, at times, to keep a tight hand—yourself, for instance—Dick Monkton, eh! ”

“ One reads pathetic stories in the newspapers daily in connection with the war. Not long ago a sad account was given of a young woman, just past her twentieth year, and only recently married to an army officer. She had belonged by birth to a military family, and, as befitted the wife and daughter of a soldier, she resolved, on hearing of the death of her husband, that she would not survive him, but would follow him to the great unknown. ”

“ During National Family Week and throughout the year, we also extend our appreciation and support to our courageous military families, who have borne the hardships of war with dignity and devotion. Our Nation has remained strong and free because the brave men and women of our Armed Forces defend this country and our beliefs. By supporting their loved ones in uniform, our military families are also serving our country, and America is grateful for their service and sacrifice. ”

“ Military spouses share the sacrifices of service with our Nation's men and women in uniform. As members of the Armed Forces serve in the United States and across the world, military spouses also serve our Nation. When a servicemember goes to war, we know their spouse also shares in that sacrifice. I am inspired by their commitment to family and our Nation, and on Military Spouse Day, we honor these individuals for their contributions. Wives and husbands of servicemembers display an uncommon courage and strength as they steadfastly support their spouses during long and arduous deployments. ”

“ Among other duties which the head of the family owes to the State is military duty in time of war, which he, when able-bodied, is able to discharge and which the female members of the family are unable to discharge. ”

“ Military families face the same challenges as any other working families, but they have the added stressors of multiple deployments, frequent moves with little control over their geographic location, caregiving, family separation, and more. ”

“ Even in those countries where universal military service is established, the duty of defending the national (not the individual) hearth and home falls last upon men who are married and have a family to support; it is the young, unmarried men who are called upon to form the first line of defence and defiance. ”

“ As volunteers, military spouses have provided exemplary service and leadership in educational, community, recreational, religious, social and cultural endeavors. And as parents and homemakers, they preserve the cornerstone of our Nation's strength-the American family. ”

“ But it was evident that if the new military organisation was to be self-supporting, each family must contain several adult male members—for how else could men be spared from the tillage necessary for the support of the household? ”

“ His family consists of seven daughters and five sons, and when one is married, or arrives at the age of twenty-one years, he gives this 141son or daughter three thousand dollars upon which to commence business. Four of his daughters are married, and two of his sons, while one of his sons being in the military service at the seat of war, leaves at home three daughters and two sons. The entire family excepting the older son at home, present a very robust and healthy aspect, and the constitutional stamina of the old gentleman and old lady are not surpassed in any country. ”

“ This shews the absolute necessity of every family or kindred maintaining a constant correspondence with their distant military friends, and as the life of a Soldier is ever precarious, he should not fail to report, by letter, the circumstantial particulars of each fortunate capture at sea, in which he may have an interest, in order that his legal or designed heirs may meet with little difficulty in tracing out where his property lays, in the event of death. ”

“ Military families play an integral role in ensuring the effectiveness of America's Armed Forces. Without fanfare, they selflessly provide behind-the-scenes support to service members, their units, and commands worldwide. ”

“ A son and son-in-law of the brother in America were in the Federal army, and here was a sea-divided family filled with all the sad, silent solicitude of affection for beloved ones exposed to the fearful hazards of a war sundering more ties of blood-relationship than any other ever waged on earth. ”

“ Our family consists only of my mother, sister and myself, our mankind being in service, as you know, except father, who is in the home guard. My mother spent most of her time visiting the hospitals and devising comforts for the soldiers; my sister and I knit socks, and rejoiced when some of our soldier relatives could snatch a breathing-space from arduous duties at Sumter or on the islands to visit us and partake of the best we could bestow on them. ”

“ In the name of my country, and the authority of government, I promise you protection to your persons, property and rights; remain at your homes; pursue your peaceful and customary avocations; raise not your hands against your brethren. Many of your fathers fought for the freedom and independence we now enjoy. Being children therefore of the same family with us and heirs to the same heritage, the arrival of an army of friends must be hailed by you with a cordial welcome. ”

“ Her father, a great general, being too old to take charge of his troops, and her brothers too young, she dressed herself in boy's clothing, enrolled herself in the army, mounted her father's trusty steed, and led his soldiers to battle, thus bringing honor to herself and renown upon her family. ”

“ Time and again, military families bravely bid farewell as wives and husbands, children and parents depart for missions in far-off, often hostile areas. Committed to preserving freedom and democracy for all of us, these families provide the continuity and stability essential to the well-being of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and the members of our Coast Guard, National Guard, and Reserves. ”

“ Whether they live on bases here at home or at posts in Europe, the Pacific, and elsewhere, military families are united by common experience—including the experience of hardship and sacrifice. For example, reassignments often require service members and their dependents to move, leaving behind schools, friends, and jobs. Although such moves may consist of relocation to unfamiliar towns or even to foreign lands, military families weather the challenges with perseverance and pride. ”

“ Nor are such the greatest marks of tenderness in the soldier: oftentimes has it occurred, that an orphan has been left in a regiment, and the child has either been supported and domiciled with the company to which its father belonged, or a single soldier has undertaken the care of it. ”

“ War places a heavy burden on our Nation’s extraordinary military families, especially spouses like Amy Williams from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and her 2 children — 6-year-old Elliana and 3-year-old Rowan. ”

“ If any man throughout the empire has a family, including wife and children, amounting to three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine individuals, he must give up one to be a soldier. With regard to the rest, the widowers, widows, orphans, and childless, together with the sick and feeble, shall be excused from service, and shall all be fed from the public granary. ”

“ But I do not think, Mother, there would be any trouble if our Pir Murshid exerted himself in the matter and if my father's brother also exerted himself. A family is a family even [if it be] scattered to the ends of the earth, Mother. My father's brother's name is still remembered in the Regiment on account of his long service and his great deeds of old. Tell him, my Mother, that the men talk of him daily as though he had only resigned yesterday. If he rides out among the villages with his medals he will certainly fetch in many of our class. ”

“ Our military men have long since learned this lesson, and the son of the general must do the same guard duty, make the same marches, dig the same trenches, and face the same bullets as his fellows. His father knows that for it to be otherwise would be to handicap the son by the contempt of his comrades. ”

“ You boys can run home and get Uncle Harry's rubber boots, and his old slouch hat, and some pillows, and that military cape that Ginger's father left there, and she'll think it is an army officer that's she's going to marry. ”

“ Our entire nation appreciates the sacrifices made by military families, and many citizens who live near military families are showing their support in practical ways, such as by helping with child care, or home repairs. ”

“ The boys in their vigorous young manhood went to the war, but many or them never crossed the threshold of home again. The faithful wife kissed her husband good-bye fondly hoping, wishing and praying that he would be spared to return home again, perhaps in a short time she was left a lonely widow with the double responsibility resting upon her of training the little family of more than orphan children that with her were left to mourn their irreparable loss. ”

“ Because they recognize the risks that their loved ones have accepted in the line of duty, and because a service member's assignments can entail lengthy absences from home, military families also cope with long hours of separation and worry. ”

“ In a martial and imaginative age, where energy vents itself through fear, and every man must be a soldier, the family generally forms a unit; the women and children being under the control of the father, as they were under the control of the patriarchs in the Bible, or of the paterfamilias in Rome. In such periods the woman is sought after by the man, and even commands a high money value ”

“ Not one sergeant! Not even a corporal! All those squads which become after a time a well-beloved family to those in charge of them, a family not to be parted from without sorrow and regret—here they are deprived of their leaders, to whom they look up constantly, who watch over them, who sustain them through long and difficult hours by the mere magic of their presence. ”

“ Many other thousands enlisted for the Red Cross Home Defense work and in its offices or as home visitors gave advice, aid, comfort to the families of soldiers and sailors, helped them to meet their problems, material, financial, spiritual, and procured for them, when necessary, professional advice and assistance, thus aiding morale at the front by upholding that of the family at home. ”

“ Some military families are helping loved ones recover from injuries sustained in combat. These families are a special source of hope and strength for our wounded warriors. Through their encouragement and devotion, they help heal the body and the spirit, and they remind our wounded warriors that our Nation stands behind them. ”

“ Our military families also sacrifice for America. They endure sleepless nights and the daily struggle of providing for children while a loved one is serving far from home. We have a responsibility to provide for them. So I ask you to join me in expanding their access to child care, creating new hiring preferences for military spouses across the federal government, and allowing our troops to transfer their unused education benefits to their spouses or children. (Applause.) Our military families serve our nation, they inspire our nation, and tonight our nation honors them. ”

“ Many of those they leave behind must deal with the burden of raising families while praying for the safe return of their loved ones. All Americans honor and appreciate the commitment and sacrifice of our military families. ”

“ People at home are often horror-struck at the speed with which the married officer has to leave his family when ordered on service. Fond parents have been known to forbid their daughters marrying soldiers on this very account. ”

“ The women of the family are invariably weeping quietly as if to say: “I cannot help crying, because I am a woman, but everything is all right and just as it should be!” When the father is of the party, he has a calm face and sits beside his son with his arm around the son’s shoulders, and always the taxi speeds [Pg 14] madly, so that each time one gets only the most fleeting glimpse of the family within. ”

“ From managing household finances to comforting children impacted by a military parent's absence, military spouses take on the burdens of maintaining families largely on their own. This task is complicated even more as spouses work to maintain careers and a sense of community while moving to new duty stations around the country and the world. Despite these hardships, military spouses are an inexhaustible source of strength for our military families and donate their time generously to local communities. ”

“ Then for the next two hundred years the family tree shows a succession of soldiers—noble, high-spirited fellows, who always went into battle singing, right behind the army, and always went out a-whooping, right ahead of it. ”

“ Let us, then, feel that we are one family, and let us rejoice in the success of every one of its members, whether they are so fortunate as to gain distinction in the field, in the siege, or in literary and scientific pursuits; and by so doing may we hope, not only to maintain our present high reputation, but to increase it as time goes on. ”