My cousin, really I call him my brother, left today for Indiana for 2 weeks then being shipped off to Afganistan. Got to spend the weekend with him for the holidays I just wished I had more time. All I want is for him to come back home safe and I'm going to pray for him everyday till he gets back. I know theres military personnel and people who have family in the military on here, I'm just wondering how do you deal with this?

I am not military, just merely a citizen in the country your cousin has agreed to defend.

Many thanks to him and wishing a safe and speedy return.

From my experience I think deployments are harder on family than the service member.  Just stay positive throughout his entire deployment.  He will have many around him and those bonds will definately help the time pass. When you do communicate with him, remember once again to just keep it positive.

The toughest thing for me while I was deployed was worrying about what was going on at home, things I had no control over.  The best thing you can do for him is if he has a wife and kids is to check up on them every now and then to see if they need anything. ( i.e  handy work around the house ) and let him know that if he needs anything back home that you are there for him.

Just my .02 

Best wishes to your cousin.

From my experience I think deployments are harder on family than the service member. Just stay positive throughout his entire deployment. He will have many around him and those bonds will definately help the time pass. When you do communicate with him, remember once again to just keep it positive.

The toughest thing for me while I was deployed was worrying about what was going on at home, things I had no control over. The best thing you can do for him is if he has a wife and kids is to check up on them every now and then to see if they need anything. ( i.e handy work around the house ) and let him know that if he needs anything back home that you are there for him.

Just my .02

Best wishes to your cousin.

Perfectly said, I couldn't or wouldn't add a thing.  That advice was worth a whole lot more than two cents!

Keeep him in your prayers and write/call him as much as is allowed.

He is only 20 and broke up with his girlfriend a week ago. But I have his facebook and his skype so Im going to try to stay intouch as much as possible but 15 months is along time especially in Afganistan

From my experience I think deployments are harder on family than the service member. Just stay positive throughout his entire deployment. He will have many around him and those bonds will definately help the time pass. When you do communicate with him, remember once again to just keep it positive.

The toughest thing for me while I was deployed was worrying about what was going on at home, things I had no control over. The best thing you can do for him is if he has a wife and kids is to check up on them every now and then to see if they need anything. ( i.e handy work around the house ) and let him know that if he needs anything back home that you are there for him.

Just my .02

Best wishes to your cousin.

Couldn't have really said that any better.  Whenever I deployed, it didn't bother me all that much.  I tried as hard as possible to handle everything that I could before leaving.  Unfortunately, the things that you can't control are the things that bother you the most.  Communication is key on deployments.  The more you're able to talk, write, send smoke signals, etc etc the better things always are.

my son just got home from Afghanistan and its nothing like it once was. just as many die on this dirt as that sand. on a side note he brought a lot of cool gear home for show and  tell.

Thanks to him,and God Bless.