Left Behind
Monday, July 21 2008
Left Behind
Joshua Bertelson, Cari Bertelson, and Maryann Williams
When Joshua Bertelson first spoke with Dick Gordon, he was 9 years old. His dad, an Army medic, had just been sent to Iraq for the second time. According to a Pentagon study, nearly 180,000 children have a parent serving overseas.
Now that Barack Obama and John McCain are talking about appropriate troop levels for missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, Josh's story continues to have resonance: what effect does the prolonged absence of a military parent have on a child?
Josh talks to Dick about how hard it is not having his dad around. They're joined later by Josh's mom, Cari, and one of his teachers, Maryann Williams.
See pictures of the family when Josh's dad, Bret, returned from his deployment
