"The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example." ~Benjamin Disraeli 
 
 The first deployment was a first for me in many ways, not the least one being it was the first time I was afraid to be a military wife. Everything else that this crazy life has thrown at me I was able to handle, but that deployment was the first time I really felt fear.
 The Battalion had deployed weeks earlier to Kuwait and were due to caravan through Iraq to their final destination. I had a rough time line in my head of when they would be where. Communication then wasn't like it is now, so I didn't expect to hear from Vic much if any those first few months. I received an email from him telling me they were all safely in Kuwait and a little bit about the base they were on. From his email I could figure that there would be only a few days before he traveled with his Soldiers across dangerous terrain. I sat in front of the computer, looking at that email, gripped with fear. What do I write back? I had to write him something that would be encouraging, something that would go with him as he traveled. I couldn't move. I felt like the weight of the world was pushing me into the chair where I was sitting and breathing had become incredibly hard. What if these were the last words I would ever see from him? What was I supposed to do?
 I imagined the Revolutionary War wife, saying goodbye to her Soldier for months on end. I imagined the Civil War wife, the WWI and WWII wife and the wife who survived the Vietnam Conflict. They had to have felt my fear, they had to have been frozen in their tracks for one moment and overcome it. I imagined the circumstances that they lived through and thrived through. I imagined how they had to keep it all together during times that were much harder than the ones I was experiencing. I imagined that they were surrounding me as I sat in front of the computer, giving me strength.
 I wrote the email to Vic, one filled with encouragement and support, love and admiration, good wishes and prayers and I sent it. He would not learn about the fear until over a year later when I spoke to a group of military wives at a conference.
 That day began a journey of the heart for me. Those women who I looked to for strength became my foremost interest. I combed books and articles about life as a military wife and I learned everything I could about the women who went before me. I chose a wife from each era to research, they have become my personal Heroes.
  We, as Military Wives, are part of a legacy of incredible women. The Military Husband is paving a new way as well into that history. For centuries, our nation has been defended by brave men and women who believe in a cause greater than themselves. For centuries, spouses have held it together at home in support of the ones that they love. This is a legacy that I am honored to be a part of. My heart, prayers and admiration go out to all who are celebrated today! There would be no land of the free if it weren't for the home of the brave.