One Family, Two Sacrifices

"12 years also is a long time. We now have a lifetime responsibility to a generation of service members, veterans and their families." Dr. Jonathan Woodson 11 Sep. 2013: 'With 9/11 Came Lifetime Responsibility' {two tax cuts, especially for the wealthy, came with these two recent unpaid for wars, nor the results of, DeJa-Vu all over again from the previous decades and wars from! Ignore the many issues, by those served, no need to fund!}

In a war few Americans fought, the Wises would pay an awful price

January 18, 2014 - One by one, the CIA operatives’ remains were carried over the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base, their bodies in metal cases draped in pressed American flags. Under orders not to shoot video or take photographs, the families of the dead stood off to the side, shivering in overcoats on a frigid January day and watching for the removal of their loved one.

Jean and Mary Wise waited behind a roped-off line, listening to the cascade of sobs closing in on them. For six years, the Arkansas couple had endured repeated deployments by their three sons to fight the nation’s wars, first in the deserts of Iraq, then in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Unlike in World War II, when the draft meant that nearly everyone had family members and friends risking their lives, the battles in Iraq and Afghanistan have been waged by 2.5 million volunteers — less than 1 percent of the U.S. population.

The Wise brothers were among those who raised their hands, eager to serve in conflicts that left most Americans unscathed and eventually uninterested. Their embrace of the military, fueled by patriotism, swagger and restlessness, confounded Jean and Mary. And in Afghanistan — the longest war in U.S. history — the Wises would pay a higher price than all but five known American families. read more>>>