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Sergeant First Class Kelly Rodriguez deployed more than five times in the course of her 21-year military career, serving as an Army Combat Medic in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and twice in Afghanistan.

La Monta Caldwell - 173d Airborne Brigade National Memorial ...

She loved her work, but it exposed her to some of the worst realities of war.

When she hit the 20-year mark, she knew it was time to submit her paperwork and retire.
 

Her oldest son, Antonio, had joined the Army, completed Basic Training, and was now an infantryman in the 82nd Airborne.

"It wasn't until he was at Bragg that it became real that he was going to deploy," Kelly said.

"I just didn't see myself being able to serve in a combat zone with my son. I had friends that did that with their children or with their spouse, it's just tremendously hard."

"It's the first multi-generational conflict that we've had," she said, noting that the war in Afghanistan has lasted so long that some young soldiers serving today have no memory of Right on the front lines - Los Angeles Times ZYW