Marine
Dad Offers Online Help to Families
By
Paul X. Rutz
AFPS
Andrew Lubin
knows what it’s like to worry. Now this Marine dad is going
online to share what he has learned to help others whose sons,
daughters and spouses are going into combat.
Starting now, Lubin will be online regularly at Military Family Network (www.emilitary.org),
a Web site devoted to working with community groups, local governments and
businesses to support military families.
He will answer
questions from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. weekdays, and 8 p.m. to 9
p.m. Sundays. If all goes well, he will add more time during
weekday evenings in April.
"There
are a lot of people who feel the same way," he said. "Get
on the computer, reach out to us, and we’ll make sure that
we take care of you."
Lubin, a
professor of economics, logistics and political science at
American Military University, is the author of the book "Charlie
Battery." It details one Marine unit’s training, deployment
and frontline combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom. His son, Philip,
a Marine artilleryman, has done two tours in Iraq.
Lubin said
he hopes to accomplish two major goals with this online forum:
to "dispel rumors" and "hold people’s hands" when
bad news comes.
"If
I can get online at whatever time and say, ‘OK folks, this
is awful, but it happened in … wherever,’ parents who have
got kids in other parts of the country, ideally (are) going
to know that their young men are safe," he said.
Supporting
the troops through the Web has become natural to Lubin over
the past few years, he said. Since the initial 2003 invasion
of Iraq, he has maintained a Web site, called "Bravo Battery
in Iraq," for his son’s unit. Through that site, he has
found ways to foster public support for servicemembers and
begun several fruitful connections with other people working
to do the same.
"Corporate
and individual America can’t be more supportive of the troops," he
said. "Once they’re asked, they can’t respond quick enough."
Caroline
Peabody, president of Military Family Network, first contacted
Lubin through his Web site, he said. Her group needed a volunteer
to run the Marine Corps side of her site, and Lubin said he
saw potential for better communication through that arrangement.
"Caroline
has a great organization, and I’m pleased to be a part of it," Lubin
said.
The network
is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department initiative
facilitating grassroots and corporate support for the nation’s
troops and their families.
Son of two
former Marines and father to one currently deployed, Lubin
said his reasons for volunteering with Military Family Network
are clear.
"I get
asked all the time, ‘Do you support the war?’" he said. "Immaterial.
I support the troops. I support my son and his group. … When
your kid goes offshore, that’s a whole different mindset."