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Radio host to spouses: ‘No whining’

SALT LAKE CITY — Radio talk show host “Dr. Laura” Schlessinger is tired of all the complaints she hears from military wives who say they’re lonely and overwhelmed.

“You’re not dodging bullets, so I don’t want to hear any whining — that’s my message to them,” said Schlessinger on a visit to Utah.

Schlessinger broadcast her daily radio program on ethics, morals and values from the Fort Douglas theater here Friday. It’s one of several visits Schlessinger is making across country this year, publicists said.

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Schlessinger boasted of once talking a young woman out of marrying a solider, saying “warriors need warrior wives,” and the girl was unprepared.

“It’s very unwise to be married young when you’re going to be alone — everybody has to grow up first to know who they are,” said the talk show host, whose first marriage ended in divorce.

Schlessinger’s son, Deryk, is in the Army. She said his tour of duty has been extended because of disputes in Congress over funding the war. She also said Americans who don’t believe the Iraq war is related to a larger terrorism battle “need eye drops.”

And while she praised fathers who leave home for military service, she wouldn’t answer when asked how she feels about mothers who do the same.

“I’m going to leave that alone,” she said.

She did acknowledge, however, having “a problem” with military families where both parents are serving, saying it places an unconscionable burden on children.

Popularly known as just “Dr. Laura,” Schlessinger holds a doctorate in physiology and is a former marriage, family and child counselor in California.