FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS — Fort Leavenworth leaders, Child and Youth Services staff members and military families kicked off Month of the Military Child April 1, 2025, with a proclamation signing ceremony at Harrold Youth Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
April was established as Month of Military Child by the Department of Defense in 1986. This year’s theme for the month is “Military Children and Youth: Building Stronger Character and Relationships.”
CYS Coordinator Carole Hoffman told the audience about the root reason for why month is celebrated.
“Each year, the Department of Defense joins national, state and local government; schools; military-serving organizations; and private citizens in celebrating military children and the sacrifices they make,” Hoffman told the audience. “Today there are more than 1.6 million military children who have one or both parents serving in uniform. That’s why we celebrate Month of the Military Child.”
Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Vanessa Sun said what Month of the Military Child represents is important to her as a soldier — hers was a dual-military family prior to her husband’s recent retirement, and she pointed out that her 14-year-old daughter, who was attending the ceremony with her, has moved eight times in her lifetime.
“To the kids in here, thank you for being so resilient,” Sun said.
Garrison Commander Col. Duane Mosier asked the children assembled for the ceremony how many times they had moved, starting at more than three times with many hands in the air to a few hands raised among the young group for eight moves.
“Every one of you has moved a lot, right? So, when you talk about that in context of what a ‘normal,’ small-town America experience is … that’s rare,” Mosier told the children. “When we talk about sacrifice, well, that’s part of it. You’re not growing up in an average, small-town America experience. Now with that comes great benefits, but also sacrifices. The reality is you are having to change your environment, you’re having to change your friendships, you’re having to change your schools, change your teachers, change all of these things.”
Mosier pointed out that he heard one of the children answer “Sacrifices?” more as a guess rather than a statement when asked what it means to be a military child.
“That demonstrates the strength of the military child — they’re not bothered by it. You have resiliency,” Mosier said. “You’re able to go through these challenges and think it is an amazing adventure. And that’s what this month is about – it’s acknowledging and recognizing what you go through is truly unique — it absolutely is unique — and sometimes it means sacrifice, and sometimes it means it is an amazing adventure.”
Mosier told the children that they are living a life that very few people in the country and around the world get to experience, acknowledging the sacrifice that comes with it, but also the benefits of that experience that he encouraged them to embrace. He said the designated month was a chance for the children to know they are seen and those sacrifices and that experience is acknowledged.
“We want to make sure that we see you, and understand what you are experiencing,” he said. “That’s what we are doing here today — just to see you and understand you and let you know that we care about you, and we’re going to protect you as the treasures of America.”
During the ceremony, the Leavenworth High School Junior ROTC Color Guard — comprised of Cadet Staff Sgt. Kenneth Kramer II, Color Guard Commander Cadet Sgt. 1st Class Alexis Hoffman, Cadet Cpl. Madeleine Alexander and Cadet Pvt. Emily Kramer — presented the colors, and sixth-grader Benjamin Shumaker sang the national anthem. Eighth-grader Maddy Genge read the proclamation aloud, followed by the signing of the proclamation by Mosier and Sun. Genge and Alexis Hoffman, as Harrold Youth Center representatives, and fourth-grader Olivia Drouin and fifth-grader Saraphim Isbell, as Osage School-Age Center representatives, also added their signatures to the document.
CYS has many activities planned throughout April to celebrate Month of the Military Child. See the MOMC calendar featured with this article, the Post Notes section of the Fort Leavenworth Lamp each week for event information, and the Fort Leavenworth Child and Youth Services Facebook page for updates.
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