Only One Parent Should Serve Overseas

This fires me up:

While his parents served in the U.S. military safeguarding Iraq, 4-year-old Cameron Smith was cooped up in a modest apartment in Calumet City, slowly being beaten to death, police said Friday.

The boy was discovered lifeless in his bed Thursday morning after enduring two days of being punched in the head, stomach, chest and back and being whipped with a belt by a man who was supposed to be caring for him, Calumet City Police Chief Patrick O'Meara said.

(Source: Chicago Tribune)

Full disclosure - I was and am in favor of the war in Iraq. I'll acknowledge that mistakes have been made. I will also say that I don't think Senator John Kerry would have done any better, and so did the majority of the American voting citizenry in 2004. It is also disingenuous for most Democrats to say they wouldn't have gone (unless they voted against it from the beginning), so I don't accept that argument.

That being said, one common sense policy that should be implemented immediately is that only one parent can serve oversees in a combat zone or hardship tour (I don't think just having a family care plan is enough). Kids need their parents, kids whose parents serve in the military are no exception. It is hard enough for children to deal with one of their parents being gone, but two being away serving in the military is just unacceptable for me. It should be for you as well. I want to encourage you to contact President Bush, your representatives and your senators and respectfully ask them to work to avoid situations like what happened in Calumet City, IL.