Kara Hollingsworth of Fayetteville counts the true cost of the Iraq War in moments.

Thousands of moments have come and gone since President George W. Bush declared war in 2003 against Iraq.

That same year, Hollingsworth’s husband was deployed to Iraq. He returned again in 2005 and has also been sent to Afghanistan.

“Our soldiers and their families sacrifice precious moments with family and friends that are given to them only once in this lifetime,” said Hollingsworth, a 28-year-old mother of two.

“Many of those moments have been sacrificed in my home in the past five years,” Hollingsworth said. “They were given willingly, even if painfully.”

Hollingsworth made a pact with herself that she wouldn’t let her two girls, ages 7 and almost 2, see her cry. Instead, she channels her considerable energy as president of the Cumberland County chapter of the Young Democrats.

“I am a Democrat because I believe that an injustice done to any American is an injustice done to me,” Hollingsworth said. “Being in the military is about that same service to others.”

Congress should pass bipartisan legislation, Hollingsworth said, to give the military and their families more time between deployments; and pressure the Iraqi government to become self-sufficient.

Numbers are hard things.

Almost 4,000 lives have been lost during the war. An estimated 14,284 North Carolina national guardsmen and reserve troops have been deployed since 2001 as of January, according to figures from the U.S. Defense Department.

Reuters reported earlier this month that more than a quarter of American soldiers on their third and fourth tours in Iraq suffer mental health problems associated with them not getting enough time at home between deployments.

The pain seems to be lost on the reporter in the flap jacket and khaki hat bearing her employer’s logo on the brim as she talks in alternatively upbeat and solemn tones about the impact of the war.

“The only voices who could tell the story of our military are often silent,” Hollingsworth said. “They are most often too busy raising children in a single-parent home while Mommy or Daddy is away.”

“They are too afraid to stop and deal with the emotional toll of this war”, Hollingsworth said,” because if you can just keep going until it is over, then there’s no time for tears.”