Military members are often thanked for their service and recognized for their sacrifices. But what about the more than 1.6 million military children who also face challenges and unique experiences because of their parents’ service? These military “brats” are recognized every April during the Month of the Military Child.
Initially designated in 1986 by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, the month is intended to recognize the service, sacrifice, and resilience of military children. Because military families often move every two to three years, the children are impacted by changing schools and losing their friends.
Operation Gratitude’s Executive Director Meg Barron knows about these challenges. She is the youngest of three children of a U.S. Army colonel who retired in 1983 when she was 9 years old. In those nine years, she was born at Fort Hood (now Cavazos) in Killeen, Texas, then to Hanau, Germany, back to Fort Hood, and finally to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
“San Antonio was always our home base,” Meg said. “My grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all lived there.”
Meg’s two older brothers went through many more moves and deployments than she did being the “baby” of the family. Her mother was pregnant with her oldest brother when her father served in Vietnam.
She credits her background as a military child for her close relationship with her brothers.
“I am extremely close to them. We formed a tight bond that exists to this day,” she said. “If we didn’t move cities, we moved from house to house. We were always on the go.”
Being a military child also fueled her love for travel.
“I got to see the world! We traveled everywhere. When our family moved to Germany, my mom said we were going to visit every country we could in Europe, and we did. I inherited the travel bug from that experience.”
But military life wasn’t always easy, as her father often left for weeks or months at a time with no notice because of his job.
“We didn’t know why he left, and it was scary as a little kid. When he would go away, I would be thrown for a loop. My brothers would act up. My mom really dealt with a lot,” she said.
Her mother once got blood poisoning from the thorn of a rose bush, and her father had to return home while her mother was in the hospital.
“My dad had to take care of us. He gave us MREs to eat. I didn’t like mine but my brothers sure did,” she remembered. “Then my dad found ice cream sandwiches in the freezer and thought that they would be good for us because they were sandwiches. We were on an awful diet.”
Often when military children meet someone who was also a military child, there’s an instant connection. And you never know when or where you’ll meet one.
“My brother Ken dated a girl in high school who grew up next to the O’Neal family, as in Shaquille O’Neal,” she said. “The house was a duplex and his girlfriend lived on one side and the O’Neals were on the other. Whenever Ken knocked on the door, Shaq’s dad, known as ‘Sarge,’ would come to his door. They talked a lot and my brother really admired him. Sometimes when his girlfriend wasn’t home, he would sit on the front porch and visit with Sarge instead. Ken did get to meet Shaq a few times, who was attending Louisiana State University at the time. He also enjoyed the LSU-themed parties in the O’Neals’ front yard.”
Shaq is certainly not the only celebrity military brat. He’s joined by Pink, Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Alba, John Denver, and so many more. But whether or not they’re a household name, Meg says that resilience is a big part of a military child’s life.
“After what they go through, they can do anything,” she said.
Meg, whose career background is in art history and museum management, found herself drawn to the world of nonprofit organizations. When she saw the job listing for Executive Director at Operation Gratitude, she immediately knew the position was perfect for her.
“We get to thank veterans, especially whose who weren’t appreciated or thanked when they came home.”
But the best part of the job for Meg is her favorite program – the Battalion Buddy. With this endeavor, Operation Gratitude strives to support as many children as possible whose parents or guardians are deployed or absent for an extended period of time.
The Battalion Buddy bear is hand-assembled by volunteers, and wears a tag that says: “I’m your Battalion Buddy and I’m here to keep you company while your Mom or Dad is away. I’m so excited to join your family!” The goal is to get the bears to the military member before they deploy so that they can personally give them to their children.
“It’s so much fun watching these corporations putting the bears together. It’s really done with love. That bear is going to be hugged and loved and cried on. This child is going to love this bear while their parent is gone. Those bears really serve their purpose,” Meg said.
After a recent Battalion Buddy shipment, Operation Gratitude staff received thank you notes from several military members.
“One dad who was getting ready to deploy wrote and thanked us. He said that preparing for the deployment was stressful for his family, particularly so close to Easter,” Meg said. “But the Battalion Buddy took away some of that stress and gave his child some comfort and a ‘friend’ to hold on to.”
All year round, and especially in April, take time to thank those military brats who wear that term as a badge of honor. It’s a medal that’s been earned over and over again.
