Military Family Together For Christmas, But War Stays With Them

For the first time in three years, the Nordman family of Lincoln, Nebraska is spending Christmas all together as a family. Sgt. Jim Nordman of the Nebraska Army National Guard returned home from Iraq with his unit, Company C, 2-135th General Support Aviation Battalion on November 19th.

His wife, Tami, and his two children, 8-year-old James, Jr., or JJ, and 9-year-old Hope were the first ones to reach the plane as the soldiers walked onto the tarmac.

While it was Jim Nordman's fourth deployment overseas since 2001, he isn't the only military member of the family. Tami returned from her own deployment in August 2010, just before Jim returned to Iraq. Now the whole family is together.

But the Nordmans say the wars they fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are never far away. They both struggle with the lasting impact of being in a combat zone, and they say their biggest mission now is making sure their anxieties don't have an adverse effect on their children. They say both kids have undergone counseling to deal with their concerns about having a mom or dad who was constantly in harm's way.

This Christmas, they are looking forward to spending time together, and beginning to reestablish the daily routines of a family.