Warmamas is a project about a special group of mothers. They are the mothers of soldiers who serve - or have served - in our military in a time of war. The majority of these soldiers have been deployed to the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Most have returned home. Some have not. This project attempts to provide the mothers of these soldiers a public platform on which to tell their own stories, each narrative as unique as it is universal.
WHY Warmamas?
The Afghanistan-Iraq war has been our country’s longest war. From 2001 to 2014 over 2.5 million men and women were deployed, many of them to war zones. Multiple deployments were not uncommon. Most of those men and women said goodbye to a mother.
Saying goodbye to a son or daughter leaving for war has never been easy. It matters little if it is a first or last deployment - a mother’s anguish is the same. It is universal. I too had to say goodbye to my own son when he announced that he was being sent to the Middle East in a diplomatic capacity. For six years, I lived in secret fear. Eventually I realized that my own feelings of foreboding were dwarfed by what mothers with children in direct combat were experiencing. Their voices have rarely been heard and yet are an essential part of our country's ongoing conversation about the gravitas of war. There was a need for a place where these women could share their experiences. Warmamas was created out of this need.
Share your story. We are ready to listen.
Patricia Figueroa Sowers, Director
Warmamas
We are often asked about the stories the families have to tell of their experiences. It is clear that Warmamas is doing just that so I encourage you to keep up the good work you are doing.
Robert Patrick, Director
Veteran's History Project
Library of Congress
Washington. D.C.
STORIES
Kerry, Cutler Bay, FL
Queen, Fort lauderdale, FL
Mary, Pembroke Pines, FL
WHERE DO I START?
Where to start
Mothers can be interviewed by our staff or submit their stories as a video or simple audio recording. To get set up, have a friend ask you questions or just sit in front of a camera or monitor or smartphone and talk about your experiences as a soldier's mother. What did you say when you first learned your child decided to join the military? How did you cope with months of training and deployment? What do you say in a letter? Or not say? Has your child come home?
Click here to Share Your Story.
In March 2015, Warmamas collaborated once again with StoryCorps an the University of Miami with the Military Voices Initiative, a special StoryCorps project that records and preserves the stories of veterans, service members, and their families. This initiative honors their voices, amplifies their experiences and lets them know that we as a nation are listening. StoryCorps believes that people of all backgrounds and beliefs should be given the opportunity to share, record, and preserve their stories
warmamas NEWS
Support wamamas
