Yesterday, I had the honor of being on a conference call with Suzi Hackett. Suzi is a fascinating woman whose voice I hope we hear a lot more of over the coming months.

A year ago, her husband was serving in Iraq. He did not get to see his children dressed up for a Christmas pageant or see his youngest son’s first Christmas. He had been honorably discharged from the marines in 1999, but he could not sit by as his brothers in arms served in Iraq, so he volunteered and returned to duty.

Unlike families of service men and women in active duty, Suzi wasn’t living amidst other military families. She was isolated and didn’t have the sort of support that other military families have. Unfortunately, there are many people in Suzi’s situation. Spouses of reservists and those serving in the National Guard too often do not have the same sort of support structures that other military families have.

Many of us who don’t have friends or family in the military have no idea about the hardships these people face. For me, I first stumbled across the blogs of military wives reading Candy Girl’s Babble. Her husband is back from Iraq and she hasn’t written much recently, but her blog, especially the stuff she wrote while her husband was in Iraq is great. It is a touching reminder about those who serve silently back home. Follow the links to some of the Military Wives blogs.

Suzi spoke about the importance of all of us reaching out to military families, and I hope all of you do.

Now, Suzi’s husband has replaced a military campaign with a political campaign. He is running for Senate in Ohio. I would also urge you to see the advertisement starring Suzi here.