Military Spouses Soldier On ; Every War Poses Challenge of Separation

Summary

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What was it like during the war, Mom? For women whose husbands served overseas, it all depends on which war.

In 1943, after her husband, Joseph, departed for a two-year stint "somewhere in the South Pacific," Lee Ottenbreit mailed him fudge, kosher salamis, newspaper clippings and hundreds of letters, without ever knowing precisely where he was.

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Military Spouses Soldier On ; Every War Poses Challenge of Separation

Sixty-one years later, when Beth Shuler's husband, Eric, began an 18-month assignment in Mosul, Iraq, she sent him Cheez Whiz, a CD burner, movies on DVD and e-mails and photo files that he downloaded within seconds.

And in 1971, while Stephen Janke was stationed on Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay, he received a steady supply of letters, Polaroids and cassette tapes from his bride, Linda.

"The tapes were always fun to make," Linda Janke recalls. "Everyone in the famil...

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