Early in our endeavor in Iraq, and more frequently as our troop strength in Afghanistan increased, we heard emotional reports of civilians being killed by American forces during operations. These reports usually included tearful relatives and possibly a bullet-riddled car in the background.
I never served. My time would have been during the Vietnam War. But from 1970-1974, I completed my undergraduate studies under a 2-S student deferment; when President Nixon revoked the student deferment with a new draft bill in September 1971, the first to be impacted were men in the Class of ’75 – those a year behind me. When the draft lottery was held in August of 1971 for men in my cohort, I drew #264. (Had I been born on December 4th of 1952 instead of January 4th, I would have drawn #1.) And so I transitioned uninterrupted from undergraduate to graduate studies, completing my doctoral degree three years after the fall of Saigon.
Many years ago, I just had one name and one role. I was Katie. That’s who I was, and that was all. Throughout this journey of life, I have adopted and adapted to other names and other roles. I have been Airman, Miss, and teacher. About ten years ago, I became wife. That was a major role change on its own, but I added “military wife” to it as well. Having been a military member myself, the military lifestyle wasn’t so hard to adapt to until I added my next name, Mama.
This scenario played out 14 years ago, as the USS Constellation prepared to deploy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and I remember that morning like it happened yesterday. On October 2, 2002, my son joined a new generation of heroes that left to safeguard our country.
My husband and I joined the military in 2008 as psychology residents with the vague, distant understanding that deployment was a possibility for both of us. Just like anything that seems stressful and perhaps mildly unpleasant, but too far in the future, we paid little attention to our fears and concerns. However, I don’t think either of us anticipated that our experience with deployment would coincide with the birth of our one and only child.