A Hero's Service Costs Him His Right to be a Father

When Gary, a US Navy SEAL, was deployed in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, he never dreamed that his service to his country would cost him his little son. Gary's son was not taken from him by a terrorist or a kidnapper. This 17-year Navy veteran with an unblemished military and civilian record was stripped of his right to be a father by a California family court.

Military fathers' service often leaves their children vulnerable to these types of de facto parental kidnappings. Also joining Glenn will be Larry Hellmann, President of the National Congress for Fathers and Children, who is working with Los Angeles attorney Henry James Koehler IV on Gary's case. Larry will discuss the legal reforms needed to help unite military fathers and their children.

Read "Sean's Song," the Navy Lullaby Gary Wrote and Used to Sing to the Little Son He May Never See Again

To learn more about Gary's case, go to His Side with Glenn Sacks . To learn more about the way family courts disregard the rights of fathers and the children who love and need them, see Glenn's columns "Fathers Bear the Brunt of Gender Bias in Family Courts" (Insight Magazine, 8/19/02) and "No Virtue in 'Virtual Visitation'" (Boston Globe, 7/12/02). Both pieces were co-authored by Dianna Thompson, Executive Director of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children.

To learn more about the struggles of reservist fathers, see Glenn's column "Families and the War" (Washington Times, 11/21/02, also co-authored by Thompson), as well as "Military dads seek fair child support" (Christian Science Monitor, 4/2/03).