Serving since birth

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kristina Overton
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  B.J. Gallagher, a well-known author and public speaker, said it best, "Military brats serve their country too, and they pay a price every day of their childhoods. These military brats were drafted at birth -- they had no choice about whether or not they wanted to live a military lifestyle. And they, like their warrior fathers and mothers, have paid an enormous price to protect the freedoms and privileges that most of us take for granted."

April was designated as Month of the Military Child in 1986, recognizing the contributions of military children and their sacrifices as their parent or parents serve in the armed forces. More resilient than most their own age, military children must readjust to a different location every two to four years. At each new location they make new friends, enter new schools, and build new homes until the next assignment. By graduation, some students will have lived all over the world.

Seniors from Osan American High School recently did a project showcasing how many places each had lived and how much they've traveled as a result of their service. A map was placed in front of a classroom and more than 20 students marked their various destinations as members of military families.

James McGovern, OAHS senior, said he was born in Cambridge, England and since then has lived in Costa Rica, Virginia, Alabama and Idaho before coming here to Korea.

"You get used to it," McGovern said about being a military brat. "When you get older you start to understand that everyone is really just as traveled as you are, because there's a time when you think you're the only person that feels that way, but you can't imagine how much different life would be not being a military child - you can't find anyone else like them. You're so used to going through the emotional strains that its natural, you're used to it, efficient in some form."

Being a military child has its perks, although being torn away from the lives they're so accustomed to may be difficult. Dependents have the opportunity to see the world, experience different cultures and meet others from all walks of life.

"I love being able to move around," said Jennifer Brown, another senior student at OAHS. "When I was younger I hated it. You find little friends and you think you'll be friends for life, but then you have to move, and it hurts. As you get older you mature and learn to cope. Now I get tired of staying in places -I need new scenery. I would pursue a military career just to continue to travel."

Brown, along with her classmates, find ways to keep in contact with friends as they travel, to include using social media and making frequent phone calls.

Regardless of what part of the armed service, military children know all too well the sacrifices of their parents and sacrifice right along with them. To be a military brat is to live an incomparable lifestyle, adapt to change, endure hardships, and rise to every occasion as silent motivation to the defenders of the nation.

"It doesn't matter what branch of service you are, you still have a parent who's been gone every day, doesn't get home before dinner or is gone for months down range," McGovern said. "You feel that loss -that gap in the family. So you share all of that, all of us, and together we cope with that incredibly well."