Kids of soldiers battle reality of war at home

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Andrew Leckel, 8, left, and his sister Abby, 6, play at home after school. A photograph of their parents, Maj. Eric and Heidi Leckel, is between them.


Kids of soldiers battle reality of war at home
STEVEN VERBURG
Posted: Tuesday, February 1, 2011 8:00 am

Andrew Leckel already was waking up with nightmares about his father’s second yearlong deployment in Iraq. One day he came home crying because his first-grade classmates had inadvertently fueled his fears by talking about soldiers being killed in the war.

His mother, Heidi Leckel, says her son’s experiences underscore the need for parents, teachers, neighbors — everyone — to be more aware of how hard the long-running wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are hitting children of soldiers.

Andrew and his sister, Abby, 6, are two of 14,500 Wisconsin kids, from toddlers to teens, who didn’t sign up for battle, but still must surrender their parents for months at a time, and face the fear of losing them forever.

“The kids deserve a lot of praise and a lot of credit,” Heidi Leckel said. “If I decide I don’t like this life, I can divorce my husband. They can’t. They were born into it. Nobody ever asked the kids, ‘Is that something you want — to have your father in the military?’”

As the state National Guard has become a bigger player in the overseas wars, the impact on these children has played out time and time again in Wisconsin schools and homes.