Child Abuse Prevention Month proclamation signed at Fort Hood

FORT HOOD, Texas — Lt. Gen. Sean C. Bernabe, III Armored Corps and Fort Hood commanding general, signed the Fort Hood commander’s proclamation in observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month during a ceremony March 30 here.

The proclamation is signed every year to acknowledge the continued commitment to child abuse prevention.

This year’s theme, MilParents Rock: Rock Solid Families Start Here, signifies that children are the future, and it is imperative that they come from healthy, strong, rock-solid foundations to reach their full potential.

Isabelle Jundi, Fort Hood Military Child of 2023, commemorated the occasion with a poem entitled “Dandelion,” in honor of military children, who, like the poem reads, “bloom everywhere the winds carry them.”

Bernabe shared that he is partial to military children because he grew up as a military “brat.”

“I raise my hand proudly as the son of an Army officer and someone who got to be that dandelion moving all over the world and trying to plant roots and make friends in those other places,” he said.

Bernabe referenced the original National Child Abuse Prevention Month proclamation signed by President Ronald Regan in April 1983 and encouraged the Fort Hood community to be proactive.

“In that proclamation, President Regan challenged us all, as citizens, as neighbors, as administrators, as leaders, to really turn our focus on not only being aware of child neglect and child abuse, but also taking action,” Bernabe stated. “I wish I could say that 40 years later, that’s no longer something we have to be focused on, but we all know that’s not the case. So, he challenges us to re-double our efforts and we challenge each other to re-double our efforts this very year as we move into the month of April.”

Several audience members wore blue in observance of the occasion. The color came to represent National Child Abuse Prevention Month more than 30 years ago, when Bonnie Finney tied a blue ribbon to the antenna of her van in memory of her grandson.

Finney has explained throughout her life that she chose blue in reference to bruises turning from black to blue as they healed. The blue ribbon became the symbol of child abuse prevention in the state of Virginia and is now a national emblem.

Bernabe went on to encourage connecting parents to the resources they need to make things easier and perhaps prevent child abuse. He asserted that the Fort Hood community must be engaged enough to realize when people need help and be knowledgeable about the resources and services available.

Bernabe summarized his message with three words: be, know and do. “Be that engaged leader, know about those resources and do something,” he instructed.

“Thanks for being here today, to show how much you care about these two things that we want to focus on in this month,” Bernabe said. “Being aware of child neglect, child abuse and working hard to prevent it, and then celebrating all the great things that our military kids represent, and by the way, celebrating us military parents, because military parents rock!”