God bless our troops — and their families too.

That little girl is Paige Bennethum, who at four years old saw her dad leave to go to Iraq. And the day he was leaving, she just couldn’t let go of his hand.

Some things are just not allowed when soldiers are standing in formation. One of them is 4-year-old girls.

However, there was no soldier stern enough to pry Paige Bennethum of Laureldale, Pa. from her father as he prepared to leave last July for a year-long deployment in Iraq.

… Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum was preparing to depart from Fort Dix, N.J., for Iraq, leaving behind his pregnant wife and two little girls. His family was there to see him off. His commanding officer didn’t have the heart to tell Paige she had to let go of her daddy.

“I didn’t want to let go of him,” she told NBC Philadelphia.

Sgt. Bennethum, 30, is scheduled to return home next July. Until then, he’s transporting supplies across the Iraqi border. He serves with the 733rd Transportation Company based in Reading, Pa.

Abby Bennethum said she got pregnant right before her husband left for Iraq. “I’ve heard of deployment babies, but I never thought I’d be having one,” she told the Reading Eagle. The couple’s other daughter, Lena, is just 10 months old.

The picture just breaks my heart. Seeing it makes me remember Matt’s homecoming, and how vividly the kids there all stood out. Some of them cried. Some were happy. Some of them couldn’t remember their dads. Watching them be reunited with their dads brought tears to my eyes.

I think that sometimes we forget about how hard it can be on the families left behind, and especially on the children. I don’t think it compares to being in Iraq or Afghanistan, no matter what a military wife may say. (I actually want to smack the USMC wives I see driving around Camp Lejeune with the bumper stickers saying “USMC wife — hardest job in the Corps!”. It’s pretty condescending to think that sitting at home in the safety and comfort of your own home is anywhere near as hard as being in a freaking war zone.) It’s certainly still a sacrifice.

Matt and I don’t have any children yet, but seeing this photo made me think about conversations we’ve had, worries he has about raising children in the military. There are no words to adequately describe the emotions conveyed in this picture, but clearly there is no love lost for a little girl whose daddy is a soldier and has to go away. I think it’s good to remember, every now and then, that there are thousands of families across the nation who are left behind, who are scared and lonely, hurting and waiting for their loved one to return to them.

Make sure we keep them in our thoughts, too.