(Host) About 40 family members of troops serving overseas were honored on Saturday as part of a “Pride of Rutland County” event. The day featured a reception acknowledging the sacrifice that families are making in having loved ones overseas.
Lynn Bedell is coordinator of the National Guard’s “Family Readiness & Support Program.” She says Saturday’s event in Rutland gave people a chance to share their experiences with each other:
(Bedell) “It was very nice. We had several parents there, and it was a networking system where they could meet other parents that had people deployed and share stories about their service member and get a little support – knowing they’re not alone out there.”
(Host) Bedell says that having a spouse deployed can create emotional and financial stress, sometimes in unexpected ways.
(Bedell) “One case in point would be one of our National Guard soldiers that was deployed about a month and a half ago. I think two or three days after he left, his wife, her car broke down in New York State and she had no way to get home, she had no one to help her. So she was fortunate, she called the unit, they sent someone over to help her. So you see an outpouring of support from the units, and from the community at large. But you also see the spouse that’s left home is trying to do everything they would ordinarily do, plus what the service member would do and keep up a front of being strong and positive for the children. So they’re in a very stressful situation.”
(Host) The “Pride of Rutland County” was hosted by Central Vermont Public Service.