Military families may not agree on everything, but when it comes to the challenges of the deployment of a loved one, they are very much on the same page. ABC News recently spoke to military families from all walks of life and they all had one message: deployment and life during war is rough.
There are certainly concerns throughout the military community about the looming threat of sequestration – the $500 billion across-the-board cuts – but funding is irrelevant when it comes to being away from loved ones for too long. Such is the case for Rhonda Kent, a military wife herself whose husband retired from the service.
"War is always tough on the family, and it doesn't matter, deployment, whether they're at war or they're in training," Kent told ABC. "It's still going to be tough. It's the separation that's tough. The next thing that's tough is when they come back."
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had a significant impact on military families across the country, and statistics from the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors show just how many people have been affected. Around 65,680 civilians have been impacted by the loss of a family member in the two wars.