Military Families Speak About the Back Door Draft

“Twice as a mother, I have had to see my son off to war.  Twice, I have embraced him on his return to ensure he really made it back.  The pain and horror of what our family has gone through while he was gone is a shadow to the horrors of war he has endured. My son is a proud United States Marine.  He has received a presidential unit citation and has honorably served his country at a great cost to his soul. 

Now is a time for healing.  Yet, I find my family torn apart, our hearts wrenched in fear, that he will be called back into service and sent to the hell he has already twice survived. He is in the Marine Individual Ready Reserve and is on the short list for the involuntary recall.  Our family, my son, has done enough for this war.  Let us continue to heal. Let me help my son redeem his soul.  Stop this back door draft.”

Tina Richards of Salem, MO

On April 3, 2004, my only child, Lt Ken Ballard had turned in his weapons; their battalion’s deployment in Iraq was nearly over. It was time for them to come home. We had planned Ken's homecoming party for May 22. We felt we had enough wiggle room in scheduling this date in case of any travel delays.  Although a replacement battalion had arrived in late March, on April 14, the men of 1st Armored Division and their families were notified that the tour was being operationally extended for another 120 days of hell. April, 2004 was a month that resulted in one of the highest casualty rates since the war began. No one from the battalion had been killed prior to that month. When Ken's unit returned home from in July, 2004, 3 men had been killed, including my only child.  It is shameful that the civilian leadership [of our military] ignored the advice of qualified, experienced senior ranking members of the military who told them their plans to fight this war on the cheap and with insufficient personnel would not work. It is contemptible that 3 ½ years into this debacle that our soldiers are dying and being wounded at such a high rate. It is wrong that the contract signed by our soldiers is a unilateral document that the military uses to extend soldier’s deployments and extend their military obligation by way of “stop loss,” thus preventing volunteer soldiers from leaving the service, even after they've fulfilled their obligations.

Karen Meredith, Proud Gold star Mom of Lt Ken Ballard- KIA 5.30.04, Mountain View, California

My husband, Luke is currently serving in Iraq under stop-loss orders. He was supposed to be able to leave the military in December of this year. Around December of ’05 his unit was put on stop-loss orders and his enlistment was involuntarily extened for 30 years he left for Iraq a little over a month ago and he will now miss out on over 1 year (the first year) of his first child’s life. This was also unexpected as he is in the National Guard and is supposed to be used for domestic duties. I don’t agree with the use of the National Guard in this way and hope that this will end very soon. I also don’t like that the military is involuntarily extending the contracts of the troops, I think it is underhanded and desperate and they should take into account that people do not want to serve in this war as a sign of just how mishandled its been. I feel that the fine print they get people with is deceiving as most National Guardsmen that signed their contracts years ago never could possibly foresee this occurrence. I also feel less safe knowing that all the men and women that serve in my area are away. It makes me nervous to think of how we could possibly handle another situation such as 9/11 in my area or Hurricane Katrina in LA (this was a problem for LA). I hope that this matter gets more attention and is rectified as soon as possible.

Haeley of the Hudson Valley Area, New York

“My son has been involuntarily extended on his first tour in Iraq, he has now been involuntarily extended on his second tour; he was actually supposed to get out of the Army last May but was involuntarily extended and has no idea whatsoever when he will be released.  He belongs home with his family, and his children deserve a father not a memory.”

Harry Meyer of Chattanooga, TN 

 “This is our second time to experience an extension of our son's time in Iraq.  The first was in April 2004 when the 1st Armor was packed and ready to go home to Baumholder, Germany.  Bush extended their time 120 days and then he went on vacation after the announcement.  On April 29, 2004 eight soldiers from the 1st Armor Baumholder, Germany were killed.  They announced on the radio that 8 soldiers from the 1st Armor-- that should have been home with their families in Baumholder--were killed.  I lost it that day and closed myself up in my office and cried.  It was the start of the worst days of our lives.”

Tim and Laura Kahlor of Temecula, CA

 “Our son was in Iraq during shock and awe. He was honorably discharged and involuntarily reactivated last winter. He is now back in Iraq. He was told that half of the vets that have been reactivated have refused to report. 63 vets were ordered back in his group. Only 21 showed up. 4 of these vets were grandfathers in their 50s. Our nephew told us that in his third tour in Iraq there were 3 soldiers in his company who were convicted of violent crimes... The judge gave them the choice of prison or Army and Iraq. Our troupes have to carry grandfathers and rehabilitate violent criminals--who they also have to depend on to watch their backs.” 

Kent Robertson of Hillsborough, NC

"Both my son-in-law and nephew were deployed to Iraq with 1st Armored in OIF March 2003.  Both were due to come home April 2004, but the 1st Armored was stop-loss extended at the very last minute.  Some were already in Kuwait, on planes headed home when they were turned back to Iraq.  My son-in-law expressed not only disappointment about this development, but new concerns about the course of the war in Iraq in which he said he and many other soldiers did not see a reason for continued military presence and encouraged me to continue efforts at home for military families and civilians to speak out and call for bringing the troops home.” 

Lietta Ruger of Bay Center, WA

"My son is in the 1st Armored Division in Iraq. I found out earlier that he is being extended in his tour for at least another 6 weeks. I am so very angry about this. When he returned home on leave just a few weeks ago he had lost so much weight it was frightening. He turned from a lean muscular young man into a bag of bones.  He also told me that his whole unit was sick. I expect my son to be back home in a few months, but that won't placate my worry. When mine comes back, Paula's [another MFSO mom] son will be going. Then we'll worry with her. This news is very disturbing to me." 

JoAnn Sohl of Palisades Park, NJ

“On June 29, 2006, my fiancée was stop-lossed and redeployed to Iraq.  There had been talk of upcoming deployment, but the date was always in question.  It wasn't until a couple of weeks before the deployment that he was even informed that he had been stop lossed.  He has now been deployed 3 times to "foreign wars."  After his first tour in Iraq he was diagnosed with PTSD, but instead of getting medically discharged he was redeployed.  We have been let down by the system that was supposed to be providing him care.  He was receiving counseling 1-2 times per week and now gets none.  I am terrified by what he is seeing and how it will affect him in the long term.  I work as a registered nurse and can't believe the medical/mental health systems would further subject him to those conditions.  I am unbelievably disappointed and sad that this is happening (not only to my fiancée, but to countless soldiers).  Every experience we have had with the Army has led to dismay.  He has been bribed with promotions and bonuses to re-enlist, but when he gets home we are getting out.  He and I are both fed up with the lies and the cheating that goes on in this corrupt system.” 

Debra of Seattle, WA

“My son is a member of the 172nd Stryker Unit out of Fairbanks, Alaska.  He was deployed to Iraq last August 2005 and expected to return home August 2006.  He was due to leave the Army after this deployment.  We found out only a few days before he was scheduled to return home that his entire unit had been not only extended for at least 4 months in Iraq but also were being relocated to Baghdad.  In addition, members planning to leave the Army were told of a stop loss so they would have to put plans to leave the military on hold.  My son had been offered a job which of course could not be held for him.  In addition, many members of his unit had already left to return to Alaska and had to be flown back.  Equipment (including heavy vehicles) and supplies had already been shipped and had to be returned.  I cannot even begin to imagine the cost of this process to the American taxpayer.  The demoralizing effect of this entire process on the troops is my biggest concern.  It's as if no one cares about these guys.”   

Judy of Tampa, FL

“My husband is in the PA Army National Guard.  His unit was first activated and deployed to Bosnia in 2002.  Stop-Loss orders were issues at that time. 

Then in 2005 a portion of his unit was again activated and deployed to Iraq.  They just returned in June of 2006.  The repeated deployment of his unit is such a short time has been stressful both financially and emotionally for many in the unit.

To ask a small number of Americans, both the military members themselves and their families, something like one percent of the American population, to endure repeated deployments is an unfair burden to place on their shoulders.  It begins to feel like this administration and the American people see our military as nothing more than BOOTS ON THE GROUND, not the mothers and father, husbands and wives, and sons and daughters that are to us.  That type of military service then becomes a form of slavery and not the honorable service to our nation that was originally intended.”

Beatrice Kay Jones of Mechanicsburg, PA

“While my husband was in Iraq my mother in law was desperately searching for a kidney donor, as she has had Diabetes for the past 10 years and her kidneys are failing. My husband wanted to test to see if he were a match but he was not allowed to leave Iraq to get tested to see if he could possibly save his own mother's life! Instead my father in law donated a kidney and the operation failed, and now because of the antibodies that were built up, my husband can not donate, and my mother in law is still in grave health.

His deployment caused me severe anxiety to the point where I needed extreme psychotherapy treatments.  I had to leave my job that I loved because the stress of having to leave my desk every time my husband called from Iraq was too much to bear. I think it is an outrage that the National Guard has been used at all, there purpose is to protect us from harm on our own country's soil!”  

Francine of Queens, NY

“Currently, my eldest son, David who has 2 teenage daughters and is missing the important blossoming part of their lives.  Since 2003, he has been activated and re-activated from the Army Reserve.  He served in Afghanistan for 6 months, was deactivated, and then reactivated to go to Iraq where he won the Bronze Star.

After 8 months there, he was deactivated then reactivated, then deactivated again.  3 months later, he was reactivated and sent to Louisiana to do hurricane relief, a relief to us all. 3 months ago, he was again reactivated and sent to Ft. McPherson, Ga. where he sees no end in sight for his active duty there.  At least it's not in the killing fields of Iraq.”  Alice C. Brown of Canton, MA

 “My son served in the regular army from 7/29/02 through 7/29/06.  He went to Iraq on 1/27/04 and returned from Iraq in March of 2005.  He got out of the army with his accumulated leave on May 10th and enrolled in school.  His brother had served in the Army for 3 years and they were both planning on attending school and rooming together.  My son's ETS date was 7/29/06, however he received a letter on August 5th that he had been stop lossed.  He is on his way to Iraq Tuesday and will be over there till January of 2008.  I am very angry about this, I feel that my son served his time and was forced to return to a war that is wrong.   The war in Iraq is not making our country safer from terrorism, and we have lost the respect and alliance of many other countries.”

Jeanne Lind of Waupuca, WI

"My son-in-law, Spec. Robert E. Hall, Jr. was in the Individual Ready Reserves (IRR).  He received a letter in July telling him he was being activated and was to report for duty on September 11, 2004.  He went IRR due to marrying and having a child.  This involuntary recall forced him into active duty. Prior to him leaving we celebrated his daughter Rachael's third birthday early so he could be there.  None of us knew this would be her last birthday with her daddy.  He was sent to Iraq in January of 2005 and was murdered on June 28th, 2005.  As a result of this involuntary recall, my granddaughter Rachael only had her daddy with her for a short time in her little life.  Bob did not want to go but felt he had no options.  This military action has left a little girl with only memories of her daddy."  

Debbie Whitfield of Pittsburgh, PA