Soldiers' Families Pray for a Safe Return

Even though a National Guard unit from Morrisville has been in the Gulf for months, there's no level of mental preparation that can get relatives ready for when the air strikes begin.

Sgt. Rebecca Pardo says being in the military doesn't necessarily offer her comfort as a wife. "That doesn't change the fact that he's still my loved one just like anyone else that has a loved one over there," Pardo says. "I'm still first and foremost a wife of a soldier that's over there."

Pardo works at the National Guard office in Raleigh. Her husband Carlos is among 80 members of the Morrisville unit at the Ali Al Salem Air Force Base in Kuwait.

"I know a little more than some wives out there in the civilian community," Pardo says. "I think it [makes it more difficult] because sometimes too much knowledge can make you a lot more nervous than you would be."

She is nervous about what will happen next to her husband, and "how involved they might become, and how this might affect their date for returning home. I don't know if it will have an impact on that."

While Pardo's concerns may be more detailed than the typical military spouse, they still reflect the same general worries they all have.

The National Guard unit from Morrisville is expected to return sometime in March.