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Veteran fighting to regain custody of children after being deployed

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Veteran fighting to regain custody of children after being deployed

POSTED 7:13 AM, AUGUST 18, 2015, BY KFOR-TV & K. QUERRY
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Credit: News 13

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A military mother spent years fighting for her country and for her children.

Amanda Hurst joined the United States Army to build a better life for her and her children.

When she found out that she was being deployed to Afghanistan in 2009, she left her two children with her stepmother.

At the time, her kids were just 7-years-old and 8-years-old.

While in the Middle East, she fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.

After returning home, she was faced with another battle.

Just before being honorably discharged in 2013, Hurst says her stepmother moved to New Jersey with the children.

Because of the children’s special needs, Hurst says they ended up in the care of New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families.

Hurst learned that her daughter had discipline issues and her son became aggressive toward his step-grandmother, which caused the state to take custody of them.

Both remain in foster care.

“I want my kids back. I wanna be with my kids. I’ve missed so much of their lives serving my country that I don’t wanna miss anymore,” Hurst told News 13.

According to court documents, New Jersey agrees that the children belong with their mother, but there are conditions.

“The condition is that the emergency services being provided by New Jersey continue on here in Florida, ’cause the children do need special services,” said Brad Sherman, Hurst’s lawyer.

While it seems like a simple request, getting to this point has taken years.

“I hope that one day when they are older, they understand that mom didn’t give up,” she said.

A hearing is scheduled this week to determine when and if Hurst’s children will return home to Florida.

A spokesman for the department says they are working with authorities in Florida to bring the children home.

http://kfor.com/2015/08/18/veteran-fighting-to-regain-custody-of-children-after-being-deployed/

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Maybe because she thought the husband would take care of them properly? Maybe they didn't have decent jobs and she wanted to join to provide for them. The military has some very good benefits, however, she should have chosen a different branch, Navy or Air Force. A tad bit more family friendly.

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I think if she left them in the care of the step mother, the kid's dad can't have been around. I get she may have had limited options, but still - shouldn't have kids if she couldn't or wasn't willing to take care of them.

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I think if she left them in the care of the step mother, the kid's dad can't have been around. I get she may have had limited options, but still - shouldn't have kids if she couldn't or wasn't willing to take care of them.

The military provides many benefits for families, single or otherwise. She was making a choice to provide for them the best way she knew how.

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The military provides many benefits for families, single or otherwise. She was making a choice to provide for them the best way she knew how.

Oh I get that, but the home setup she left them with doesn't sound great. Not even a blood relative and it's unlikely the social services would take the kids away without a catalogue of incidents.

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Oh I get that, but the home setup she left them with doesn't sound great. Not even a blood relative and it's unlikely the social services would take the kids away without a catalogue of incidents.

On the other hand, she might have been lied to about being deployed. Most folks who join the Army don't know that EVERYONE is going to get deployed now.

“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.” – Coretta Scott King

"Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge." -Toni Morrison

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Oh I get that, but the home setup she left them with doesn't sound great. Not even a blood relative and it's unlikely the social services would take the kids away without a catalogue of incidents.

All of her blood relatives could be deceased or no good. I'm sure they would have been a first option otherwise.

Again, it appears she had a husband so she didn't have kids foreseeing he would leave her. Joining the military was good instead of waiting tables and barely making ends meet. Then you would her people complaining about how single mother are a drain on society.

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If I remember correctly back during my days in the service, the military makes you put a plan in place in case you were to be deployed. That's about the extend of what I know, since it was just me and no family back then.

and it has to be reviewed and approved by the command. the plan she had sounded reasonable - but the moving out of state by the guardian set the stage for this situation. the command should have sent the woman back home.

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I'm really surprised that the military doesn't have some sort of temporary foster program for situations like this

This sounds like a very good idea. However, I doubt it will get approved. The military losses some of the finest they could have because they have children.

and it has to be reviewed and approved by the command. the plan she had sounded reasonable - but the moving out of state by the guardian set the stage for this situation. the command should have sent the woman back home.

You would think but they needed help finding them WMDs

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Based on the story, it doesn't sound like the step-mother is the one keeping her from being reunited with her children. Of course we don't know the whole story, but this seems to be an issue with the state of New Jersey. Another example of the state assuming they know better.

As to her decision to join the Army, I applaud her for finding an honorable way to provide for her family. We certainly do not know what other choices she had.

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Based on the story, it doesn't sound like the step-mother is the one keeping her from being reunited with her children. Of course we don't know the whole story, but this seems to be an issue with the state of New Jersey. Another example of the state assuming they know better.

As to her decision to join the Army, I applaud her for finding an honorable way to provide for her family. We certainly do not know what other choices she had.

I agree. And after she been separate from her kids for do so long you would think they would be interested in reuniting her with the kids. I'm sure this is part of the reason for the children's misbehavior problems, they miss their mom.

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