Whether you're for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or against them, we all have to agree on one thing: War is hell on military families.

Bad enough the financial and emotional carnage left beyond when a Mom or Dad deploys. What about the kids?

Leave it to PBS to address their unique needs. In a new 30-minute show called "When Parents are Deployed," premiering tonight on PBS stations around the country. The show is hosted by Cuba Gooding Jr.

The show both addresses children's' emotions when a parent is deployed and also offers practical advice and guidelines for keeping family ties strong during the tour of duty. According to the show's creators, some 700,000 children under 5 will have a parent shipped overseas for military work -- the largest number since World War II.

The project stems from a successful video on the same topic made by the Sesame Street Workshop and funded by Wal-Mart. So many were distributed that it was decided to do a TV program on the topic, addressed to parents.

"I think it's incredibly important that the public broadcasting system chose to air it," said Charles Bolden, a 35-year Marine Corp veteran who served as one of the military and medical advisers to Sesame Street on the project. "The story that is told is one that the vast majority of Americans don't have a clue about," he said.

In newspaper interviews, Bolden points out that there's a huge disconnect between families with members in the military and families without. It's a huge disconnect in America, he said. Almost like two different societies. He's absolutely right. And no matter where you stand on the political spectrum, you can't deny these family's pain and the terror these kids go through. We should all know about it and do what we can to help.

One glaring omission: There's no talk in the show about what's uppermost on every child's minds when a parent is deployed. What happens if they don't come back?

Seems a bit obvious, but also a lot of fodder for a separate show. Start talking about casualties and it starts bringing into question all sorts of ugly political and moral questions. Not surprising that PBS doesn't want to open that particular can of worms.