Operation Navy Wife

Hello everyone, my name is Olivia Embry and I would like to share my story with you.

My husband's name is James and he is in the U.S. Navy. We met through mutual friends over a year ago and fell in love very quickly. Before he left for bootcamp in November of 2011 we were inseperable. Both of us knew that our time together would be short and we would soon face challenges that neither of us were prepared for. This allowed us to fully cherish and make the most of the six months we had before he left for bootcamp and by July of that year, we were engaged to be married. It was the happiest time of my life and even though he would be leaving soon, there was no doubt in my mind that we could make it through.

The last few months flew by and before we knew it he was leaving. Bootcamp was really hard on both of us as contact was varied and minimal (letters only). Still, we made it through. Then he immediatly flew off to A school where he recieved special training for his job. We kept in contact through e-mail and phone calls and just made the most of things, although it wasn't easy. He graduated from A school in March and returned home for a two week leave. During that time, we were married. Once again, we knew that our time would be limited and at the end of those two weeks lay our greatest challenge yet. After his leave, he would be stationed for three years... in Japan.

We were married only a week when he flew off to the base there. We were devastated but we still had the promise of our life together in Japan to keep us going. That is, until we found out what no one had told us. You see, there is a rule that no wife or child can gain sponsorship to be with their significant other unless he or she has reached the E4 rate. My husband is only an E3. Needless to say we were crushed. There is absolutely nothing we can do about this rule and we never even knew it exhisted until he was already assigned. And so, we have decided to take matters into our own hands and sponser ourselves. This means that instead of the military paying for housing, food, and transportation to Japan, we will incur all costs ourselves. The plane ticket alone is around $2,000.00. If your eyes just expanded to twice their size, then you are not alone, as mine did the same when I saw that number. But honestly, it is our only option and you cannot put a price on love. In the past six months I have seen my husband for a total of two weeks... and it has been heartbreaking. We are both miserable apart and we are doing everything we can to be together again. I am even moving back home with my parents to save money... but it is still not enough.

And that is why I have come to humbly ask for your help. It is not something that I take lightly and is not something I am accustomed to, but to get to my husband I will do anything I have to. I know that times are tough for all of us and that even a dollar is hard to let go of. But I must try. I need my husband, and I need your help.

So I ask you, good people of the internet, will you please help me?