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American Morning

On the Home Front

Aired March 11, 2003 - 09:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the U.S. prepares to potentially do battle in the Persian Gulf, many military personnel have left families behind. The spouses are left to deal with the emotional strain and financial burdens. Mary Rettinger and Sandy Aldridge are seasoned spouses. They are also advocates for military families in need, and both Mary and Sandy join us now from Washington.
Good morning to both of you. I'm delighted to have you both with us this morning.

Mary, I want to start with you this morning. Your husband is a Navy petty officer. His name is Jason. He serves on board the USS Stennes (ph). And we have some pictures of him after a very long deployment in Afghanistan, when he gets to see your baby for the first time. He missed the birth because of his deployment overseas.

Let's watch that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON RETTINGER: Look at that beautiful baby of yours. I can't wait to hold him. He looks so healthy and strong. And I'm so proud of her. He's incredible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Was a beautiful child -- is a beautiful child. So, Mary, my question to you, is you've been through this once before. In fact, your husband as missed birth of two of your children. How are you looking at what might be another deployment for your husband?

MERRI RETTINGER, MILITARY WIFE: Believe it or not, the deployments get years over time, I think this one will be a lot simpler than the last two, obviously because I won't be pregnant this time.

ZAHN: How might it be different?

RETTINGER: I think you kind of learn to cope being by yourself, easier to adjust when he's gone, from simple things to taking out of trash, to financing a car, things like that.

ZAHN: You've really been called upon over the years to be extremely independent, haven't you, Merri?

RETTINGER: Yes, when the husbands leave, it's almost like playing mother and father to your children; you have to do both roles at the same time.

ZAHN: And, Sandy, your husband is petty officer already stationed in the gulf. How do you view this current deployment? This is his third time being called to duty. Is this one any easier for you?

SANDY ALDRIGE, MILITARY WIFE: Yes, like Mary said, they do get easier over time. And the best thing that I have found that works for me is to stay very busy and very focused on other things.

ZAHN: What has been the hardest thing for you, Sandy, during the long deployments?

ALDRIDGE: It's the lack of communication. It's very difficult, when e-mail goes down, because it's dicey, at best. It goes up, it goes down. Lack of phone calls. It's tough.

ZAHN: And Merri, one of the things that you and Sandy are trying to do is make life easier for other spouses that maybe aren't as experienced as you are at the business of deployment. Tell me a little bit about what you are trying to accomplish on this Internet Web site.

RETTINGER: Right, we volunteer cinchouse.com. That was started by Meridith Laber (ph). And what it is, is the Internet's largest community of military wives and woman in the military. And what we try to do is bring together community and content no matter their geographical location is.

ALDRIDGE: And what kind of advice do you give to spouses on...

RETTINGER: The advice is actually given out by other military spouses. That's the neat thing about the Web site, is you can actually talk to people who have been there and done that before, and get good advice.

ZAHN: Sandy, the other thing the two of you will be doing is meeting with member was Congress to call for better health benefits and higher salaries for those that are called to duty. What do you hope to accomplish? What do you think you'll get in the end?

ALDRIDGE: Well, we hope to make our Congress members realize that the junior enlisted families really do have a tough time from month to month. They can barely make it through with food and even a basic transportation and things like that. Cars are very expensive, and there is just not enough money, and the benefits lacking.

ZAHN: And finally, Mary, this morning, something that has been created to help these families is a group called Operation Homefront. Give folks an idea of how that organization might help families in need.

RETTINGER: Right, Sandy is actually the director of Operation Homefront. What it does, is it helps military families when their spouses leave. It's kind of a Murphy's Law, as soon as husband walks out the door, the car breaks down, or the oven will go out, and so what Operation Homefront does is come in and help try to help pick up pieces for those families, with anything from food all the way up to major car repairs.

ZAHN: Well, our thoughts were with you, as your family members are called to duty. We have great respect to their commitment to the nation, and we wish you both very good luck, as you have a bunch of challenges you are working on down the road here.

Mary Rettinger, Sandy Aldridge, thank you very much for dropping by this morning.

RETTINGER: Thank you.

ALDRIDGE: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 11, 2003 - 09:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the U.S. prepares to potentially do battle in the Persian Gulf, many military personnel have left families behind. The spouses are left to deal with the emotional strain and financial burdens. Mary Rettinger and Sandy Aldridge are seasoned spouses. They are also advocates for military families in need, and both Mary and Sandy join us now from Washington.
Good morning to both of you. I'm delighted to have you both with us this morning.

Mary, I want to start with you this morning. Your husband is a Navy petty officer. His name is Jason. He serves on board the USS Stennes (ph). And we have some pictures of him after a very long deployment in Afghanistan, when he gets to see your baby for the first time. He missed the birth because of his deployment overseas.

Let's watch that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON RETTINGER: Look at that beautiful baby of yours. I can't wait to hold him. He looks so healthy and strong. And I'm so proud of her. He's incredible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Was a beautiful child -- is a beautiful child. So, Mary, my question to you, is you've been through this once before. In fact, your husband as missed birth of two of your children. How are you looking at what might be another deployment for your husband?

MERRI RETTINGER, MILITARY WIFE: Believe it or not, the deployments get years over time, I think this one will be a lot simpler than the last two, obviously because I won't be pregnant this time.

ZAHN: How might it be different?

RETTINGER: I think you kind of learn to cope being by yourself, easier to adjust when he's gone, from simple things to taking out of trash, to financing a car, things like that.

ZAHN: You've really been called upon over the years to be extremely independent, haven't you, Merri?

RETTINGER: Yes, when the husbands leave, it's almost like playing mother and father to your children; you have to do both roles at the same time.

ZAHN: And, Sandy, your husband is petty officer already stationed in the gulf. How do you view this current deployment? This is his third time being called to duty. Is this one any easier for you?

SANDY ALDRIGE, MILITARY WIFE: Yes, like Mary said, they do get easier over time. And the best thing that I have found that works for me is to stay very busy and very focused on other things.

ZAHN: What has been the hardest thing for you, Sandy, during the long deployments?

ALDRIDGE: It's the lack of communication. It's very difficult, when e-mail goes down, because it's dicey, at best. It goes up, it goes down. Lack of phone calls. It's tough.

ZAHN: And Merri, one of the things that you and Sandy are trying to do is make life easier for other spouses that maybe aren't as experienced as you are at the business of deployment. Tell me a little bit about what you are trying to accomplish on this Internet Web site.

RETTINGER: Right, we volunteer cinchouse.com. That was started by Meridith Laber (ph). And what it is, is the Internet's largest community of military wives and woman in the military. And what we try to do is bring together community and content no matter their geographical location is.

ALDRIDGE: And what kind of advice do you give to spouses on...

RETTINGER: The advice is actually given out by other military spouses. That's the neat thing about the Web site, is you can actually talk to people who have been there and done that before, and get good advice.

ZAHN: Sandy, the other thing the two of you will be doing is meeting with member was Congress to call for better health benefits and higher salaries for those that are called to duty. What do you hope to accomplish? What do you think you'll get in the end?

ALDRIDGE: Well, we hope to make our Congress members realize that the junior enlisted families really do have a tough time from month to month. They can barely make it through with food and even a basic transportation and things like that. Cars are very expensive, and there is just not enough money, and the benefits lacking.

ZAHN: And finally, Mary, this morning, something that has been created to help these families is a group called Operation Homefront. Give folks an idea of how that organization might help families in need.

RETTINGER: Right, Sandy is actually the director of Operation Homefront. What it does, is it helps military families when their spouses leave. It's kind of a Murphy's Law, as soon as husband walks out the door, the car breaks down, or the oven will go out, and so what Operation Homefront does is come in and help try to help pick up pieces for those families, with anything from food all the way up to major car repairs.

ZAHN: Well, our thoughts were with you, as your family members are called to duty. We have great respect to their commitment to the nation, and we wish you both very good luck, as you have a bunch of challenges you are working on down the road here.

Mary Rettinger, Sandy Aldridge, thank you very much for dropping by this morning.

RETTINGER: Thank you.

ALDRIDGE: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com