(Originally published in Military Times, 12/30/91

         Sometimes we see the U.S. military on a global scale – like a monolith of might, not to be reckoned with. But if you stick around long enough on any give day at any given post or base, you never know who you might run into.

         One day when I was working as a volunteer at the thrift shop at England AFB, La, a woman and her little girl came in to consign some items. As I priced her things, we got to talking.

According to the Journal of Family Psychology, 15.5 million U.S. children live in families in which partner violence occurred at least once in the past year, and 7 million children live in families in which severe partner violence occurred.