DUBLIN, Ga. — Tori Branum looks back on the pictures of her daughter, Taryn Bishop, who's military dreams started as a little girl.
"I'm a Marine. Her dad's a Marine. She was born on Camp Lejeune," Branum said.
Bishop was home schooled.
"Being a military brat and traveling around and living on bases, she said, 'I saw people leaving for deployment and coming home.' And she said, 'I was always so proud'," Branum said.
Once Bishop completed high school, she enlisted in the Navy at 19-years-old – around the same age as her mother.
"She's a Master at Arms, that's the military version of law enforcement, and she deployed overseas in June to Poland," Branum said.
It's been 7 months since Branum saw her daughter as she works to protect our country.
"We entered an agreement with the Polish. It was a $4.75 billion agreement to build an infrastructure to house the patriot missile system. It will shoot down bad missiles. So, they have troops over there guarding that, and my daughter does that," Branum said.
She says this is the first time her daughter spent the holidays away from the family.
Bishop started an "Adopt a Sailor" program to help ease her homesickness.
"They set it up where the Polish families, brought sailors into their homes for Christmas," Branum said. "They ate with them. They had fellowship. So, it's kind of building an alliance over there and it kind of made Christmas a little easier."
She wants people to keep in mind the sacrifice both our troops and their families make to serve our country.
"When I see people forming their opinions and hating on the people that are in charge of my daughter's life, it just bothers me because they don't have an iron in the fire and so they need to be cognizant of our feelings, and the families, and the sacrifices that they're making – and just pray," Branum said.
Branum says her daughter will be overseas for at least the next year and half.
She's planning a trip to Poland to visit her in May.
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