As of September 2017 there were an estimated total of 1.3 million active duty service members in our U.S. Department of Defense and, another 800 thousand in the reserves. Of those 1.3 million, almost 22,000 individuals were from Kansas alone. Since 9/11 more than 2 million children have had a parent deploy, and more than half have experienced 2 or more deployments.
Where it all began
In 1986, Caspar Weinberger, the Defense Secretary at the time, established April as The Month of the Military.The Department of Defense has honored the Initiative ever since.
This is an important month to these children who spend around 6 months away from their parents during the terms of deployment. The month of the Military Child is a campaign aiming to make coping with the difficulty of missing a parent more achievable.
The U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) operates 166 schools for military children across the world giving the ability to grow the programs that coincide with the Month of the Military Child. The school administrators plan special events to honor military children by incorporating the themes of this month into their everyday tasks and learning, according to the DoDEA official site.
Events for Month of the Military Child
Most of the events of this campaign occur from within. Celebrations often include parades, fairs, contests, and other events focusing on military children.
A great example of this is the “Purple Up! For Military Kids” event which incorporates and represents all branches of service by the use of the color purple: a color not already adopted to represent any particular branch. Other events also take place where children can tell their story through their own eyes by sharing what it is like to be a child of the deployed. The events also give these children a voice through drawings, all of these typically take place as a part of a contest for the children involved.
Why it’s Important
These children are playing a crucial role in the service of our country and are paying a very large price in doing so. “The military child is expected to support the mission by understanding the needs of the parents to deploy, to relocate, and to put the family’s needs second to the call of duty.” With this being a difficult burden to face, these children don’t always fully understand what’s going on when the parents deploy or even get re-assigned causing them to miss out on many memories with their parents that other children wouldn’t think twice about.
Join us in honoring these children who are enduring so much and handling it so well.
Sources: https://militarybenefits.info/month-of-the-military-child/