Hyannis Mother And Son Reflect On Son's Afghanistan Deployment In Wake Of Iran General Attack

HYANNIS (CBS) -- As U.S. leaders talk about the next steps with Iran, families of service men and women may be wondering what it will mean for their loved ones.

Hyannis resident Shelley Kopycianski knows what it's like to send a son to war. Her son Wesley Wendt was deployed to the Middle East in 2013.

"It was hard because that was one of the reasons I didn't want him to join," Kopycianski said, "To find out he was being shipped out to Afghanistan was even scarier."

Wendt knew the risks, but joined anyway. "I had an understanding, yeah. We're at a time of war, it's a possibility I might go."

Years later, it's still difficult for his mom to talk about his time overseas. The thought of her son going to war makes her cry, but Wendt is there to hug her.

At the time, Afghanistan seemed like a war zone a world away, and communication between Kopycianski and her son was limited.

"One of the times I actually got to speak to him he goes, 'Mom. If anything happens they will contact you.' I said, 'I don't wanna think about that.' So he says, 'No news is good news.'"

Sometimes the only way for her to know what was happening in Afghanistan was to watch how the war was covered on television.

"There were times when I was glued to it and couldn't look away," Kopycianski said. "There were other times when I had to just turn it off."

Wendt came home after his nine-month deployment as the debate about the very war he fought in continued.

"You're not just fighting just because some someone in office said so. You're fighting for the person next to you," he said.

Now, as tensions mount over Iran and the debate about what to do heats up, Kopycianski is hoping the focus isn't just on pundits and politicians, but the people who would be doing the fighting.

"When they put on that uniform, they're committing to following orders that sometimes they themselves don't agree with. It's because they believe in the uniform," she said.

Kopycianski is a chapter president for a blue star moms group, and encourages all military families to connect with each other for support, especially in uncertain times.