Being in the U.S. military is a lot different than working a regular nine to five job. You are expected to be ready to go anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice, often leaving family and friends behind. As a member of the military, you know this is the expectation, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
Military deployment and stress
The simple fact is that deployment is a normal part of life in the military. Depending on where the service member is being deployed, determines whether their family can accompany them or not.
War zones in particular are a stressful deployment for members of the military and their families because they can be without each other for months at a time.
Long deployments are especially hard on military families
The Middle East is an especially hard area for military members to deploy to. Usually, with the intensity of the conflicts there, military deployments can drag on for up to nine months, or longer. So, the reunion between military members and their families upon their return is that much more intense.
A long tour in Kuwait
When Mike Pleasant deployed to Kuwait, he left behind his wife Jocelyn and the couple’s 6-year-old son. As a member of the U.S. Army, his duty station was located in Augusta, Georgia. His first deployment, it was especially hard because he would be gone for 296 days.
Jocelyn prepared for Pleasant’s return
For Jocelyn, the loneliness of having a spouse deployed to a warzone was made a little easier by the other military spouses whose husbands had also been deployed to Kuwait. In the week leading up to Pleasant and his fellow soldiers’ return, the other wives had been preparing elaborate welcome home signs.
On the Thursday before their return, Jocelyn received social media posts from the other wives of the signs that they had made. She and Pleasant had come to an agreement when it came to signs.
“I really didn’t feel like making a sign and my husband said he didn’t really want a sign,” Jocelyn said in an interview.
Keeping it short and simple
Instead, Jocelyn decided to take a different route when it came to a sign. Hastily, she wrote a short welcome home comment on a piece of paper. “Oh, hey.” It simply stated. Short and sweet, and to the point, which is how the couple liked it.
It turned out her message was a hit with her friends. Most importantly, Pleasant loved it.
“He said he saw it when he was walking out of the terminal and one of the other soldiers said, ‘Oh you guys got signs,’ and my husband said, ‘Yeah…I think mine says ‘oh hey.’ He thought it was hilarious,” Jocelyn said.
Back together once again
At the end of the day, it didn’t matter to Jocelyn or Pleasant whether she made him a fancy “Welcome Home” sign or not. They were just glad to be together once again.
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Sources: Twitter – @veryveryplain, deploymentpsych.org
