We are blue collar people some of us living week to week but we all live every day wandering if our loved one will come back. You say you hear our voices and you say you feel my pain but you can't unless you walk in my shoes.
Joanne Spencer, Mother of an Army Corporal, Tyngsboro, MA

Dear Senator Kerry,

When my son joined the Army my entire family signed on too.  We are blue collar people some of us living week to week but we all live every day wandering if our loved one will come back.  You say you hear our voices and you say you feel my pain but you can't unless you walk in my shoes. My son Corporal Justin Spencer is a Cav. Scout in the US Army. He has already spent a year in Afghanistan. I almost lost my son in a Humvee accident and because of the grace of God his life was spared. He should be getting discharged from the Army this August but because of a STOP LOSS he may now go to Iraq. I spent a year while he was in Afghanistan wondering if he was ok and was his life constantly in danger. On my way home from work each night I would stop at the top of my street and freeze...praying when I turned the corner that someone from the Army wasn't waiting for me in my driveway to tell me my son was dead. Losing him would be unbearable, not knowing what for would kill me. Now I wait in limbo hoping to hear that the troops will be coming home soon. If they don't start coming home soon my son will go again and I'll go back to the place I had to live for a year. He will go because he has no choice. My choice is to live free or die.

Sincerely,

Joanne Spencer
Tyngsboro, MA