Here's Deanie's story:
I am a Marine mom whose son and two nephews have deployed to Iraq in combat missions five times, with another nephew having deployed to Afghanistan. We have several generations of combat vets in our family, so that makes us pro-military, but from the beginning -- way back in 2002 -- I opposed the Iraq war, and at the time, Barack Obama was the only politician who had the guts to speak out against it.As the war dragged on and my son fought in the Battle of Fallujah in November 2004 with insufficient body armor, poorly-protected Humvees, and aged rifles, I fought just as hard to end the war so that he would not have to return, but alas, he did, along with my nephews.When the Democrats took control of Congress and still the war did not end, I threw all my energies into supporting Obama for president, with my son's full support. After he was injured in an IED explosion and lost a buddy a few days later to a sniper, he seriously began to question why we were there in the first place, and said, "If Barack Obama is elected president, maybe I won't have to go back."I worked as precinct chairman in a very red county in west Texas, and I blogged for Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo, sent what money I could, made phone calls, lived and breathed the campaign for almost two years.On election night, when Obama was declared a winner, the full impact of what that meant hit me, and I broke down sobbing and cried most of the night. The first person to call me was my son.Politics is personal to military families, and the wrong person in the White House can get a loved one killed. Obama's election was, to me, a matter of life and death. Our whole family voted for him, and we couldn't be happier. When he spoke out against the war at a time when it was political suicide to do so, he proved that there are many kinds of courage in this world.The road out of Iraq will be difficult, and won't take place all at once -- military families understand this -- but you would be surprised how many of us are grateful for the new commander-in-chief.
Do you have a story to tell? We want to hear from you about how you've been affected by the President's actions.
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