The war in Israel is very close to home for former WRAL News reporter Bruce Mildwurf, whose daughter is serving in the Israeli army.
Bruce Mildwurf and his wife, Linda, said, while they are proud, they are living through a nightmare.
Bruce and Linda Mildwurf said their daughter was in high school when she decided she wanted to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces after she graduated.
Their daughter is now serving a two-year tour of duty, but WRAL News is not showing her face or using her name due to safety concerns.
Her parents said they hadn’t been too worried about their daughter in Israel until now, despite tensions in the region.
"But this is something completely different," Linda Mildwurf said. "This is war in its rawest form, it's nothing we could ever prepare for. We don't really sleep. We're not eating well. We're on our phones a lot."
Their daughter wasn’t hurt in the invasion last weekend, but people she knows were killed.
"She is very good about connecting, reaching out daily," Bruce Mildwurf said. "Without that, I think we would have gone insane. There have been people in her unit that were killed. And she went to one of their funerals just yesterday."
"She's physically okay," Linda Mildwurf said. "She is not mentally okay."
The parents said they are worried about the likely ground invasion of Gaza in the coming days. They’re reaching out to other families in the United States whose children are also serving in the Israel Defense Forces, helping to keep each other strong.
"They're all our kids," Linda Mildwurf said tearfully. "And we want to see every single one of them, and every single time a soldier dies, it's like our kids. It's absolutely agonizing. And it's brutal."
The Mildwurfs say they have no anger or animosity toward Palestinians who weren’t involved in the attack. They want to see peace. But they say Hamas and peace cannot co-exist.
"This is all about Hamas, not about the innocent citizens of Gaza, who are right now feeling the brunt of what their government has done," Bruce Mildwurf said.
"We are devastated by all of this, but we are so proud of her," Linda Mildwurf said. "And we are so proud of these other soldiers, these other lone soldiers. They're strong and they're brave. They're courageous, and they're determined ... we're eternally grateful. And we never lose sight of that, ever."
The Mildwurfs also have a son who goes to college in Israel. He is home on break right now, and his mom says they haven't decided yet whether he will return this month.
