Many have done research and study military families and their environment for years. They discovered some very disturbing and shocking stories.
A writer wrote these stories about family life and the military. The voice of a Navy petty officer. "My father would get drunk and break the dishes. They had to buy more dished every other month."
The daughter of a Army sergeant. "Military members socialized by drinking. There was plenty of drink and on the weekend it was drink until drunk."
The son of a Navy commander. "My dad was a perfectionist; he couldn't make mistakes. At Christmas he wouldn't let us decorate the tree, because it had to be perfect. He laid the tinsel one at a time. He'd let us put the balls on the tree and after we went to bed he'd put the tinsel on. One night when I got up, he had moved all the ball, because they weren't in the correct place. He rearranged the tree."
The sound of a Navy Petty Officer. "Sometimes people apologize to their kids. My father always assumed beating me was an appropriate thing to do. There was a time when I thought, he'd had a hard life. I should just forgive him. But he continue to injure and be a bad person. Not out of control, but he's in charge of his life. Therefore he can see what he is doing to people,especially my mother. I have no hope of reconciliation with him and I will actually be relieved when he dies. I think my mother will be much better off; she'll be able to begin to enjoy life free of his tyranny."
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Hi Mae,
ReplyDeleteGreat post as always!
Have a great wk.end!
Blessins',Lib
Thanks for the insight into home life military style. I don't think I would have liked it much. :(
ReplyDeleteI'm not so much expose to military families. It's not a passion in my family, I guess. But I had heard a lot about the upbringing issues & family values. Even your stories are very consistent- an acquired attitude in life & needs a lot more understanding for people who can't relate (like me) what it is to risk one's life in the battlefield and to act quick and intelligently in every situation.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK it is well known that the ex-military are over respresented in the homeless population. Many ex soldiers can't adapt back to civilian life, so it doesn't come as a suprise to me that many would have problems in a domestic situation. There ought to be far more support for the families of soldiers.
ReplyDeleteIf more wives felt able to come forward maybe soldiers who were having trouble coping would get help sooner, so their family unit would survive. There does seem to be a culture of families putting up and shutting up with abusive behaviour. Perhaps this is why the military is also over represented in the divorce courts?
Well..I guess it's a matter of perspective. I'm very proud to be a former military "brat." In fact, there are a very large group of us that lived in Berlin together and we have regular reunions. We call ourselves the Berlin Brats.
ReplyDeleteAlso - those examples you gave did not fit what I grew up with - and - for many of my military brat friends throughout the world - I did not know many of them that went through what you described.
Statistics have shown that the military mirrors regular civilian society in relation to population, suicide, alcoholism, etc. The problem is that since this is the military - we are held to higher standards - so -when things like this happen - it seems worse than what is happening in the civvy world.
Anyway - thanks for sharing this post. Just wanted to let you know there are brats out here that actually have fond memories growing up in the military and traveling around the world.