“Military Brat" is a badge of honor worn by kids who travel the world with their parents, with some even following the family tradition of military service as adults.
April is set aside as the Month of the Military Child to recognize unique life challenges children in military families face.
Military kids all share the same strengths, which begin early with having the power, strength and experience to face and tackle just about anything.
They spend their childhoods sacrificing short-term close relationships, and sometimes with important immediate family members due to the distances they live apart and the number of times they transfer assignments.
They bear a difficult burden that may not always be easy to understand.
Military children lie awake at night enduring the same operational deployments as their parents.
These children are expected to support the same missions as their parents, simply by understanding the facets of military life which often include putting individual and family needs second after duty.
The Month of the Military Child was established by former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger during 1986.
Purple is the color representing all military children as a Department of Defense combination of Army Black and Gold; Navy Blue and Gold; Air Force Ultramarine Blue and Gold; Marines Scarlet and Gold; and Coast Guard White, with shades of Blue and red, known as CG Blue and CG Red.
April is especially important considering the military children who have two parents serving in the military at once.
Parents should also be honored for instilling in their children what military service means, along with the values of selfless service and sacrifice that go along.
In a typical military career, they move sometimes 10 times or more while growing up, with military families moving three or more times more than civilian counterparts.
They experience different cultures and languages around the world. Some may even have a parent from a foreign nation like Korea or Germany, which makes their already unique military life even more exclusive and distinctive to their friends.
The Department of Defense estimates at any given time there are more than “900 thousand Army dependents, 400,000 Air Force dependents, nearly 300,000 Navy and approximately 118,000 Marine dependents.”
For just one month, everyone can think of what it must be like enduring the life of a military child by imagining walking in their shoes.
Social Sharing