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My earliest memories in life are of my father leaving for
the Vietnam War. Just before he left he said to me, "Take
care of your mother while I'm gone. I'm leaving you in
charge."
"OK, Daddy," I replied as hot tears streamed
down my face.
I was almost 5 years old, and that was
the second time my father was headed to Vietnam.
That
was a tough year.
Every night as my mother watched
the news, I saw Soldiers at war in a land far away and
protestors who demanded that it all come to an end.
I
remember the ache in the pit of my stomach caused by the
worry that my father would not come home. I remember his
return and his struggles with the shadows of war that have
plagued our Family for as long as I can remember. I remember
the constant moving. The struggles of making new friends,
and keeping old ones. The missed moments that cannot be
recaptured.
I also remember the close-knit community
-- that fabric of the Army Family -- that kept it all
together no matter the circumstance. The friendships made in
an instant. The ties that bound us all together. And the
patriotism forever branded into my psyche.
I never
learned how to put down deep roots and yet I felt at home
where ever the Army dropped us every two to three years. I
don't have friends who I grew up with, and I still struggle
at times to keep connected with friends who move away.
This is the life of an Army brat, and even if I could I
would not change a thing.
I was born into the Army.
My connection to the Army is in my heart, in my soul. It is
the place of security I tend to turn to in times of trouble.
I married a Soldier, a year after graduating high
school. And when our marriage began to fail, I joined the
Army -- while I do not advise running away to the Army, for
me it was like coming home.
After leaving the Army, I
was bound and determined to try out this "civilian life"
that I had heard so much about. I embraced it, immersed
myself in it, and for a long time I ignored my Army roots.
When the newspaper I was working for began to fail, I
once again turned to the Army.
As luck would have it,
a fellow veteran gave me a chance. And although I was 15
years removed from the administrative work I once did as a
Soldier, she recognized I was eager to get back to it. I
went to work at Fort Campbell Warrior Transition Battalion,
and was honored to be part of the Army's support system that
assists ill and wounded Soldiers.
Last year another
veteran took a chance on me and today I serve as a public
affairs specialist at Fort Campbell Public Affairs Office.
I did not choose the Army, it chose me, and for that I
am eternally grateful.
Soldiers give so much of
themselves in the service of our country, but so do their
children who truly are our unsung heroes. In 1986,
then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger established April
as Month of the Military Child, a special time set aside to
recognize the sacrifices made by the youngest among the Army
Family who carry on the Army brat legacy and continue to be
Army Strong no matter the circumstance.
Take a moment
this month and hug your Army brats and tell them thank you.
By U.S. Army Maria Rice McClure, Fort Campbell Public Affairs Office
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
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