Families across the US celebrated Mother’s Day , which is on 9th. May, Sunday. But mothers of the US soldiers in Iraq will find it hard to enjoy themselves as they worry about their sons and daughters there.
May Hnin Zaw from California is one of them. Her only son, Marine Sergeant Zaw Zaw is currently stationed at an army base in Fallujah, a town where Iraq’s former dictator Saddam Hussien’s supporters lived. May Hnin worried about her son’s safety as news of car bombs exploding almost daily appeared in the news whenever she switched on the TV. On Mother’s day she prays for her only son’s safety in Iraq . Her son told her before he left for the second time to be stationed there that the Captain of their Marine Corps had said to the soldiers, “We’re not going as enemies to attack Iraq, we’re going there as friends to help in the reconstruction of their country.”
May Hnin has regular contacts with her son via phone and mail . She noted with humor that when she asked him what he would like her to send from home, he replied, “Sun flower seeds.”
In the Mother’s Day card Zaw Zaw sent to his mother, he wrote, “Happy Mother’s Day, I’m well , we have to believe in fate, I’m praying hard.. Please give my love to all. Take care of yourself mom, don’t worry about me, I’ll send e-mail, please give my love to family members and friends.”
As for May Hnin, her Mother’s Day wishes for her son is for him to be in good health, help Iraq and return home safely.