Mother Sacrifices Tradition for Country
(May 10, 2009) |
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Army Sgt. 1st Class Angela
Amundson, left, discusses correct wording for
awards with one of her soldiers at Contingency
Operating Base Basra, Iraq, May 6, 2009. The
mother of two will spend Mother's Day helping
other deployed mothers observe the day. |
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Contingency Operating Base Basra,
Iraq, May 7, 2009
While deployed mothers will miss out on
their traditional Mother's Day celebrations May 10, some are
making the best of the situation.
“This is not forever. This is a temporary stomping ground in
your overall life,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Angela Amundson,
actions and awards noncommissioned officer in charge for
34th Infantry Brigade.
The Hastings, Minn., native is spending a year away from her
14-year-old stepson, Alex, and her 7-year-old daughter,
BriAnna. But for her, Mother's Day is about more than just
her children. Every year, the Amundsons have a tradition for
Mother's Day.
“What I like to do is get all the mothers together and we
all go to brunch on Mother's Day with all our children and
my
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husband's sister, my sister
– anybody we can get to go,” she said. The
family started this tradition because they were
going to multiple houses for a short time, Amundson explained. |
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“We're all family, whether we're blood or
not,” she said. “So I said, ‘Let's all get together.' That
way, you don't have to go five different places, kind of
like Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's much nicer and easier
to have everyone together.”
This Mother's Day, while Amundson's family is having brunch,
the deployed soldier will acknowledge other mothers here.
“I want to make sure to recognize other mothers this
Mother's Day,” she said. “Being a mother isn't about
yourself – it's about everybody else.”
Amundson credited being a mother with helping her with her
skills as an NCO.
“I think being a mother really helps with being in charge,”
she said. “It helps you balance positive and negative
discipline.” Amundson said she mentors and guides her
soldiers as she would her children, and that some of the
soldiers even remind her of Alex.
Whether being a motherly figure to her soldiers or her
children, Amundson said, she sees Mother's Day as an
important holiday.
“[It] is special to me because I have the privilege to be a
mother,” she said. “I remember the day I got home with my
daughter. I thought there was nothing better than being a
mother, and I still think that.” | |
Article and photo by Army Sgt. Debralee P. Crankshaw
Multinational Division South
Special to American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2009
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