As wars lengthen, toll on military families mounts

As wars lengthen, toll on military families mounts
WRAL.com - Raleigh,NC,USA
Posted: Today at 1:01 p.m.
EDITOR'S NOTE - With troops fighting on foreign soil since late 2001, the United States is learning about the long-term toll of modern war on the home front. In the first of a three-part package of stories, The Associated Press examines some of the consequences for military families.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - Far from the combat zones, the strains and separations of no-end-in-sight wars are taking an ever-growing toll on military families despite the armed services' earnest efforts to help.

Divorce lawyers see it in the breakup of youthful marriages as long, multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan fuel alienation and mistrust. Domestic violence experts see it in the scuffles that often precede a soldier's departure or sour a briefly joyous homecoming.

Teresa Moss, a counselor at Fort Campbell's Lincoln Elementary School, hears it in the voices of deployed soldiers' children as they meet in groups to share accounts of nightmares, bedwetting and heartache.

"They listen to each other. They hear that they aren't the only ones not able to sleep, having their teachers yell at them," Moss said.

Even for Army spouses with solid marriages, the repeated separations are an ordeal.
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