Uncertainty, fear and a host of mixed emotions are familiar territory for those who have loved ones serving in the military.

“This is the child I’ve nurtured and protected and now he is in harm’s way,” said Linda Griffiths whose son was recently deployed for the fifth time. “It’s a very overwhelming feeling.”

At times Griffiths, of Cameron Park, said she felt she couldn’t bare the emotions she was feeling when her then 19-year-old son Joshua headed for the Middle East for his first deployment.

“You say goodbye and don’t know if you will ever see your child alive again,” she said.

With the help of the Military Family Support Group of El Dorado County, Griffiths came to realize that her feelings were normal.

“If you haven’t been there you don’t understand the depth of the stress,” she said. “The group helps you understand that you aren’t weak, or crazy, you have valid fears and emotions.”

The support group, founded in Aug. 2005 by a Marine mother, is open to all family members and friends who have a loved one serving in any branch of the Armed Services.

Group Leader Rose Chilcoat joined the group when it was in its infancy in late 2005.

At the time her son was on a ship headed to Iraq for his first deployment.

“I thought I was going crazy,” Chilcoat said. “My emotions ran from how proud I was of what he was doing to terrified because I knew he was going to war.”

She said while her friends, family and coworkers were supportive, they couldn’t fully understand what she was going through.

“Unless you’ve sent a child off to war, you cannot relate,” Chilcoat said. “The group was my lifesaver.”

Aside from offering emotional support for families of deployed military, the group, that meets monthly, often gets together for group barbecues, dinners and picnics.

“We are trying to get the word out to the community that we are here and there is a group that can help,” Chilcoat said.

With her son serving overseas as an airborne ranger with the 75th Ranger Regiment of the Army, Griffiths feels she has the skill and experience to offer support to others.

“Those of us who have been through it can help others,” she said. “For some young military wives raising kids alone, it’s nice to have the understanding of others who have been there.”

Husbands, wives, parents, grandparents, family and friends of those serving in all branches of the military are welcome. 

The group meets from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday each month at the Veteran’s Memorial Building at 130 Placerville Drive, Placerville.