Soldier's service in Iraq leads to child custody battle at home...

TEANECK, N.J.>> During the 10 months she was deployed in Iraq, Leydi Mendoza, a 22-year-old specialist in the New Jersey National Guard, did everything she could think of to ease her longing for the year-old daughter she had left back home.

[Akoniprimo]

That LLares guy does not deserve to be a father or have full custody of Elizabeth. He should make every effort to work with the child's mother and support agencies to make the mother-daughter reunion/transition a much smoother one. I do not think he made any attempts to ready the child to be with her mother.

[local girl]

That guy is a jerk!! Yes, the child will have some adjustment to seeing her mother again because she was so young when she left but she did not abandon the child. She served her country in a war that is not our own and is forcing our young people to go there. If he restricts her seeing the baby it will take longer for the adjustment period instead of helping the situation. His lawyer is also a jerk-how would they like it if the shoe were on the other foot?
Get real and let her get to know her daughter, he and his lawyer are only making it more difficult and wasting money and court time!
The mother is by right her biological mother and he agreed to the arrangements before she left to do her duty in the war, she did not choose to go to war and she has helped to support the child financially while she has been away. So she is not a deadbeat mother.

[Sadly]

The father is trying to do what is best for his daughter. This mother stated she chose money$$ over being with her daughter. She chose to leave. It's not like this war is making us any safer here.

And as we've seen in the past, once she's returned, the military is of no help. Why are we surprised?

[halflyboy]

Sadly wrote:

The father is trying to do what is best for his daughter. This mother stated she chose money$$ over being with her daughter. She chose to leave. It's not like this war is making us any safer here.
And as we've seen in the past, once she's returned, the military is of no help. Why are we surprised?

She did not choose $$ over her daughter!!! She was called to active duty to serve her country.She had no choice. She made arrangements with her ex. He renege and the government also did so.
He is the coward. She always kept in contact with her daughter. She should get her duaghter back and the gov and ex should pay all her legal fees.

[lori]

Reverse this case, fathers are away at war, why
should there be a difference?

[Trina]

lori wrote:

Reverse this case, fathers are away at war, why
should there be a difference?

There should not be a difference. For thousands of years, Moms have been helping their kids deal with their dads being away at war. Now, whether we like it or not (and I don't) women are also being deployed to war zones. The parent who remains at home with the child(ren) has an obligation to nurture the child's memory or image of the deployed parent. Only a selfish and immature person would try to set him or herself up in the child's eyes as the only parent.

These are situations where the child will one day be old enough to ask why he or she was blocked from being with the deployed parent. This is not good for any of the people involved or for their relationships with each other. Adults need to set aside their own egos and look out for children's best interests.

[Rahela]

Best interest of the child is to have two loving parents. The father is doing a diservice to their child by keeping the mom away. The damage that children suffer because a parent is manipulative is horrendus. Grow up and give your child her mom. Using your child as a weapon to get back at the other is selfish. Especially a mom who is giving her life for our country. If you can't be a man and go to war...be a man to your child. Show some courage and let your child know that she has a brave mother. Just totally heartless and cruel. Don't think we can't see the transparency.