Military families make sacrifices for all of us

The Daily Local News : Serving Chester County: "Chester County Commissioners' Chairwoman Carol Aichele knows what it means to be in a military family. Her husband served in the U.S. Navy when they were first married, and she lived the life of a navy bride. Her son chose also to serve in the military, and has spent time overseas in the Persian Gulf conflict.

And although one could not accuse Aichele of being someone who spends too much time looking backward and not forward, she makes a point when discussing the difference between those families whose children are fighting our country's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those who fought our nation's war against germany, Italy and Japan."

"Unfortunately, the public has a very short memory," Aichele said at a ceremony last month declaring May to be Blue Star Mothers' Month, in honor of the organization that supports those families who have sons and daughters on active duty overseas in time of war.

Aichele pointed out that when the Blue Star Mothers organization began in 1942,
more than 60 percent of all American families had family members in the service;
now, less than 1 percent do.

What that adds up to is that service families at times feel adrift in a world that does not always recognize the sacrifices that they are making.