The colors are presented as members of the 191st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion take part in a Deployment Farewell Ceremony at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. The battalion is headed for the Middle East in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
OREM, Utah (AP) – A retired U.S. Army sergeant from Utah has written a pair of children’s books to help families cope with the deployment of their mother or father.
The Daily Herald in Provo reports that Leslie Zimmerman says she was inspired to write the books after seeing her nieces and nephews struggle when her older sister was deployed. Zimmerman says children of deployed parents can suffer depression, anxiety and anger.
Zimmerman is now a mother, but didn’t have children when she was deployed to Iraq in 2003. She was honorably discharged after developing post-traumatic stress disorder. She says writing the books is a way to continue to support military families.
The books are titled, “When Dad Deploys” and “When Mom Deploys.” Her younger sister illustrated them.
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