Everyone pays the terrible price of war in one form or another, but it is the military families, perhaps, that pay the most. If the family is extremely lucky, they must only endure the absence of their loved one for the duration of his or her tour of duty. That can be quite stressing in and of itself, never knowing for sure about the safety and well being of their brave service man or woman.

Many military families are not so lucky, however. All too often these families are faced with the tragic news of a terrible loss. If not death, then severe injury or the loss of limb that requires a prosthesis and a complete re-learning of how to do every day tasks. Then there are those military families who are grateful to have their loved one return seemingly unscathed, only to be faced with the horror that is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

What kind of efforts are there to help these military families cope with the consequences of war? Does anyone care? Certainly there are countless organizations all over the country that are dedicated to helping military families obtain the assistance they need, whether it be financial, medical, or psychological, but these organizations tend to be small and poorly funded. Their intentions are pure, their efforts heroic, but they can only do so much.

Perhaps the best effort to help military families should come in the form of prevention. Imagine how much the need for assistance could be reduced if the country could simply make peace, not war. There will admittedly be times when war is unavoidable and necessary to protect the freedoms that are right and good for this country. Waging war merely for political agendas and financial gain, however, speaks to a distorted sense of power and entitlement. Active protests against this kind of war would do far more for military families than any amount of recovery efforts ever will.