Like daughter, like mother

From the Huntsville Times (be sure to read the whole thing):

A 39-year-old grandmother is getting ready to go to Iraq to disarm bombs like the one that seriously injured her daughter.

Army Pfc. Cindra Smith, said she doesn't want revenge on those who hurt her daughter, but she wants to help prevent other soldiers from being hurt by improvised explosive devices.

"What revenge is there in saving someone's life?" Smith said. "If you can dismantle one IED, you can save up to four lives. If I can save one life, I feel I have done what I came to do."

Smith is training at Redstone Arsenal to become an explosive ordnance disposal specialist. She is likely to be deployed within the next year after six more months of training in Florida.

Disarming IEDs is dangerous work, said Lee Hallman, Smith's drill sergeant since her arrival at the arsenal May 26. "You have to ask for this job," he said. "The Army doesn't give you this job."

But it's a job Smith wanted. "I want to understand what happened to my daughter, what we're fighting for and why,'' she said. "I want to help other parents not get the same kind of call I did."