I have the utmost respect for women who’ve pledged their hearts to a man in the military, especially for the wives of Navy SEALs. Every military spouse has to make amazing sacrifices. Having been married to both an Army officer a Navy petty officer, I know what it means to wait and worry. Lots of women do it, but the wives of Navy SEALs are a special breed. The first thing you notice when you meet them is they’re beautiful. All of them. But there’s usually an amazing brain behind that beauty. Like their Navy SEAL husbands they are all intelligent and accomplished human beings. And like their husbands, they are also impossibly brave. Imagine letting your husband go without a moment’s notice to face the worst imaginable and terrifying dangers halfway across the world. It takes faith to do that–faith that what your husband is doing is in America’s best interest; that it will save lives; that it is noble and worthy.
Two years ago, I had the privelege of meeting Laura and Patsy, the widows of Navy SEALs Michael McGreevy and Danny Dietz. Both men perished in Operatin Redwing, Afghanistan, 2005. Every year Laura and her friends raise money for a scholarship in memory of her husband. Both women have soldiered on without their husbands. Having made the choice to love them, they also made the choice to be just as brave–perhaps even more brave, for keeping it together when they were left behind. God bless you both, Ladies.
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Leaving your spouse as they go off to war is incredibly tough. I did it twice and then I was the spouse leaving for war. It’s completely different when you’re over here compared to being at home. I had no idea what my husband went through on his last two deployments, but at least now, I have a better understanding. Being the spouse at home is just as difficult, the only difference is that you don’t have incoming fire to deal with.
My hats off to all military spouses who have loved ones in harms way.