JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Six Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall community members were honored as children's heroes during the Blue Tie Affair April 30.
"These individuals being recognized today are doing some really great work in the community and we do appreciate that," said Diane Neilson, JBM-HH Family Advocacy Program community educator.
The Department of Defense recognizes April as both National Child Abuse Prevention Month and the Month of the Military Child. Neilson said nominations for the children's hero award were sought from the community.
Honorees included Diondra "Bow" Bowens of the Joint Staff Spectrum Management/J6 C4 Cyber Interoperability; Master Sgt. Courtland E. Divine, Fife and Drum Corps, 3rd Infantry Division (The Old Guard); Sgt. 1st Class Chester Duvall, Headquarters Command Battalion, United States Army; Master Sgt. Eric Galvan, Andrew Rader United States Army Health Clinic; 1st Sgt. Clarence Morgan Jr., Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division; and Staff Sgt. Michael Moss, headquarters Marine Corps, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Henderson Hall.
Bowens was honored for his volunteer coaching and work in his church, and Divine was lauded for teaching self-defense and stranger danger classes to children.
"It's very humbling," Divine said of the recognition.
Duvall, who is the father of an autistic child, was recognized for his outreach to others who have children with disabilities and for helping others understand what autism is. Galvan was honored for his work as a Little League coach and youth mentor. Morgan was honored for his counseling and mentoring of Soldiers and families in his company and volunteer work with children.
"His tireless work in the company is an enduring asset to the Soldiers and his family," said Capt. Ryan Conley, who nominated Morgan.
Moss was lauded for his tutoring and mentoring of youth.
"I wanted to pay it forward," he explained.
In her remarks, JBM-HH commander Col. Fern O. Sumpter said the community is committed to effective child abuse prevention by working to create a climate of safety and respect.
"Because we all have a role in children's lives, whether you are an employer enacting policies that impact the work-life balance or a neighbor who offers parents time away from stress we all have an effect on the lives of children," she said. "The responsibility is ours to contribute to the kind of nation in which we want to live."
Sumpter explained that a very personal awareness campaign was begun in the late 1980s by Bonnie Finney, a Virginia grandmother whose grandson was a victim of child abuse. Finney tied a blue ribbon to the antenna of her car to honor him.
"She spoke out in her community to alert others of the tragedy of child abuse," Sumpter said. "Since then, the use of the blue ribbon has expanded across the country."
The pinwheels for prevention initiative began as a grassroots campaign to compliment the blue ribbon in 2008 and quickly spread across the country, she continued.
"As a pinwheel partner with Stop Child Abuse Now of Northern Virginia, the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall community is proud to share the pinwheel as a symbol for child abuse prevention," Sumpter said.
She urged attendees to continue to strive to be a voice for children throughout the community.
"Every day is an opportunity for all of us to accept that we all play a role in children's lives," Sumpter said. "It's up to you to help make a difference."
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