Parenting during deployments is a task in and of itself, but explaining antiwar sentiment to young children can be even more taxing.

Explaining news reports that show war protestors or even driving past the local protestors who gather on the freeway bridge between DuPont and Fort Lewis is often a tough task for Kandace Lee, wife of a deployed intelligence officer and mother of two young children.

"What they have on their posters, their body language, the way they are yelling - it's not a peaceful protest," she said. "It's totally in your face."

Garrett, 7, and Ethan, 5, often come up with questions regarding news reports such as: "Did Daddy's friends die?"

Finding the right words to explain the war and why their father is there is hard enough. Explaining why there are people who don't support their father is even harder to do.

Lee said she is left with trying to insulate her children from any kind of antiwar sentiment.

Command Sgt. Maj. Renata Bergene, on the other hand, has found that her children have a greater capacity for understanding. Kenan and Yahna, twin 9-year-olds, still take any kind of waning support personally.

"In my children's world, every aunt, uncle, grandfather and neighbor is military," she said. "When they see people who have never served bad-mouthing the military - they take it very personally. It was hard for them to see the protestors.

"The military is such a way of life. It's like running into somebody that doesn't believe in God - because to my children - it is just something you do," Bergene said.

Ultimately, Bergene and her husband, John McIlhenny, a retired Army colonel, have opted to be open and honest about what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We don't insulate the children," Bergene said. "Because we feel if we don't tell them honestly, then who will?"

Both families have found DuPont to be somewhat insulated from antiwar sentiment for the most part. Although Sean Penn and other war protestors have taken up residence in the community for a short time, the majority of the community is somehow related to the military.

"We're very fortunate. Chloe Clark Elementary is very sensitive to the fact that they serve the military community," Bergene said. "The kids don't come home with a whole lot of garbage in their heads about the war."

Bergene, a Seattle native, and McIlhenny, a Portland native, agree they couldn't find that same support in their hometowns.

"We could never live in Seattle or Portland under these circumstances," Bergene said. "In Portland, they're vandalizing recruiting stations and burning the effigy of a fallen soldier. I don't want my kids to be subjected to that."

McIlhenny, a Vietnam-era veteran, says the American public is a bit more supportive of soldiers and their families than they were three decades ago when troops came home from Vietnam.

"People can express their dissent, but they really owe it to soldiers to be informed," he said. "Everyone has the right to say what they want. What makes me mad is when what they have to say is ignorant."

Ultimately, the best way the family has found to support the troops is to pray every night for the men and women fighting for freedom and teach their children to be informed about the military's mission overseas.

For Mary Green, wife of Lt. Col. Matthew Green, censoring herself helps her cope.

"I don't watch the news. My husband doesn't want me to," she said. "Besides, they never put any of the positive stuff they're doing on the news anyway. It's only negative."

She's basically applied the same principle for her children, Alexandria, 8, and Olivia, 4.

Green has seen her husband get on a plane for Iraq three times in the last five years. It's hard enough to deal with her anxiety about having her husband train the Iraqi military, let alone worry about her children being influenced by antiwar sentiment.

Ultimately, living among other military families coping with the same issues has helped Green stay positive and insulate her girls from people who don't support the military.

All of the families recommend networking with other military parents and seeking support from military organizations to combat deployment stress.