What about the Submarines?

Ok, so first of all, I just watched this armed forces tribute that my father forwarded to me, and now I'm sitting here with tears on my cheeks. *sigh Those things always get me... by the way the url is www.armedforcestribute.com it's pretty cool. I know there's alot of different good ones out there. I so appreciate all the support the military gets from civilians and others who may not actually be a part of the service, but know how important it is that they're out there doing their jobs.
Now, this is something I've been wondering for a while... ok well not really wondering, because... I already know, but it still irks me a little. What about the submariners? Well, Navy in general, but especially subs. Have you noticed that every where you look, (well, where I am anyway, surrounded by military bases in the Puget Sound) there are "support our troops" signs, magnets, etc.... but do you ever see "support our sailors"? Now this is not to downplay our soldiers at all - my bro-in-law is in Iraq as we speak, in an especially volatile area. But how often do you see our boys in blue mentioned? Maybe I'm a little more sensitive to this issue, being that my dad is retired Navy (he served onboard aircraft carriers) and that my husband is a submariner. But sailors are not "troops" and they're out there just the same. As far as the surface guys and fast-attack subsailors go, they're out there patrolling and doing ops in dangerous waters too. They face dangerous tasks and jobs everyday. Not just the pilots either. And their families are suffering just as much when they're gone. I know that whenever my dad went to sea, you didn't know what was going to happen, and unfortunately they always seemed to come home a few hands short. But how often do you hear about the sailors and what they're doing?
And especially the trident sub sailors, like my husband. I know they're the "Silent Service", which is why there's no fanfare, no publicity, or anything else like that. For good reason... the whole point of their patrols is "strategic deterrence", meaning they're out there, no one knows where, and that in itself is a deterrent. And I guess in some ways, for those men (a very special breed... who else could go out in a 500ft long metal tube and stay underwater for weeks at a time??? Not me!) the glory and honor comes, not in the public's eye and the people's appreciation, but in knowing how important their job really is, and doing it well.
But for them, peacetime or wartime, nothing changes. They still have to go out, patrol the deep, and keep us safe. Living side-by-side with weapons, underwater, for months... and doing it with no recognition, save in the sub community itself. And us wives, who never know when we might hear from them, when they'll be home (we only get approximations that we naturally aren't allowed to speak about)... our children go without any contact from daddy as well. Email is sporadic, phone calls are rare... and without being able to speak about it, you become very lonely. Only other sub wives have any idea what you go through. Sub and surface are very different worlds. I've been a part of both. They both have pros and cons... but back to my basic point. I think it would be nice if finally someone would recognize the huge contribution the navy makes to the wartime effort, and the submariners make every day, war or peacetime. My husband's job involves working on the weapons themselves. Every day. And you can't exactly "bail out" of a sub when there's a problem at sea. (I actually swore when I was younger that I'd never marry a submariner... God had other ideas) So next time you see something that says "Support our Troops", please remember the ones who aren't mentioned as often... those brave men of the sea.