The following is printed with permission, with full acknowledgement that there are always two sides to custody cases. It provides a different perspective on the sacrifices people who still care about their country are making.

The person of interest, whom I know, left her husband claiming abuse. Since there was no sign of injury, the judge dismissed her ex parte. The single mom went to live with her mother until she enlisted to fight in Iraq. Her son stayed with his grandmother. When the soldier returned from Iraq on leave, she found her nine-year-old son afflicted with ADHD and post-traumatic stress. She claims it was induced by people telling him that she was going to die in Iraq.

So, when the soldier returned to Iraq, she arranged to have the child stay with a female friend, and the child attacked his guardian. DSS came into the picture and put the child in a home. Only later did it come out that the child had been sexually molested by one of the guardian’s male friends. The child now has another disorder, and is doped up beyond recognition. His mom is now stateside and afraid the child’s alcoholic dad will gain custody.