As a  veteran of two years (2 tours) in Vietnam and one year unaccompanied in Turkey with a Military Assistance Advisory Group, and 23 years total in the Army, I can commiserate with the problems you are going through. 

The purpose of the message is to highlight that however dreadful your separation is, past times were worse.  You are blessed with email, cell phones, and video-conferences, and better meals, for the GI.

During my unaccompanied tours we communicated by letter and audio tape via mail.  I personally wrote a letter at least every other day and my wife (with 3 children) did likewise.  When one asked a question which demanded an answer, by the time the answer arrived it was not at all unusual to forget what the question was as the round trip for the mail was sometimes 3 weeks.  We mailed each other photographs as a means of touching each other.  When I was preparing an audio tape, I had to be careful that that was no gunfire in the background and many times had to erase the tape and start over.  An interesting aside, was that the  batteries in the tape machines of I and my wife were always of different in the amount of use, which at that time caused the tape to play at different speeds, making comprehension difficult.  Then as you go back in history to prior years it was even worse, for instance no tape recorders.

So as bad a time as you are having, keep in mind that warriors of past years unfortunately had it worse in some respects.

That said, my heart goes out to all the families and to the GI.  Your GI  unfortunately sees more combat on a daily basis week after week that I saw or even that seen in WWII.  Keep in mind that the miseries you are enduring are no stranger to previous generations.  Those of us who have been there never-the-less are keeping you in our prayers week after week.  You are doing what other generations have done to keep this country strong and provide freedom for even the likes of Nancy Pelosi.  God Bless you all.

Taylor

U.S. Army 1959-1982