What is a Military Child? April 23,2025

This month is called, “Month of the Military Child.” Why is it called this? It is a celebration that was established in 1986 by the Defense Secretary to recognize and celebrate the military child. According to the Dept. of Defense website (https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/Month-of-the-Military-Child/),  “there are over 1.6 million military children.”  
 
Military children deal with issues related to self- esteem, making friends and having to leave, adjustments, living sometimes out of country, separation from one or both of their parents being deployed (being gone for long periods of time from months to even years )  and many other issues that relate to the life of a military child.
 
There are some benefits of military life for a child though in that the child has experiences that many other children never get to do like traveling around the world to new overseas bases and living on a military base (sometimes which is like a giant city with some or many amenities depending on the location).
 
Lately, I have been seeing a lot of videos about homecomings where the military parent stops at the child’s school and hug them after the parent has been gone for a long time and return from their deployment. Many times, it is a total surprise. The videos are very emotional in that they touch your heart. It goes to show you how emotional and difficult these times are for military children. The reunions though are priceless. At the same time, you begin to realize how rough life can be for a military child.
 
               As a former military member, my children had to deal with the life of a     dependent. As I was never a military child, I cannot relate to that life. I can    tell   you though as a young   boy, I did move around a lot so that part, I can   relate to.
             
               I moved to an area of Florida so many times that I went from one   elementary school to another every grade from 1st grade to 6th grade from   one city to another. It is extremely hard to make   friends when you know that    you must move. I even moved from Florida to   New Hampshire. Check out    my book, “Brains Over Brawn” (https://a.co/d/fXuGhQv)    which talks about   the issue of moving and adjustments.
 
              With the onset of technology like video calls, it has made it easier but not the   same as in person. However, it is extremely helpful. Many parents use this  form of communication but letters, post cards, and phone calls are often                                        used too. Imagine that your mom, dad, or both have been gone for a year. That    is a long time for a child to have to deal with absences.
 
 I began my journey by writing several military dependent related books. One book I wrote was “Did You Come Home for Lunch?” (https://a.co/d/858eaf1 )     which talks about what a three-year-old military   dependent says when his dad comes home.
 
Then, I authored a book called, “Living on A Military Base”   (https://a.co/d/7xZbbCk )  which is a book that    explains from a military dependent what it is like to be a military dependent. The boy is telling the story from his perspective to a non-military child what it is like to live in a foreign country as well as living on and off a military base overseas.
 
Another book that I wrote talks about moving which is “I Was Just About…”   (https://a.co/d/eoTvK1y ) . This is a story about a boy who is happy that he has friends, home, and school friends but he moves which turns his world upside down. Now, he is given encouragement that everything will be okay with new friends, new place, and lots of room in his room of his new house.
 
 One book I would highly recommend is “I Move A lot and That’s Okay “by Shermaine Perry Knights (https://a.co/d/aKjNF8y). This is about a boy whose mother is in the Army who moves to Italy and how they deal with their experiences moving overseas. I really enjoyed this book.
 
 As a former military member and now a Veteran, I love being a part of the Month of the Military Child. This is the second year that I have participated in Month of the Military Child Celebration. Last year, I was at the Proclamation Party which was so much fun with the whole room covered in purple props, purple t-shirts on staff and military dependents and families with their purple shirts on, and lots of purple items throughout the event. There was a lot of music and some fun events that the military parents and their children participated in.
 
I had the opportunity to be a part of this fun event giving out 77 books out to military children. Each parent was allowed to pick one of my books for their children that I signed for them.
 
This year, I was able to give out over 121 books to military dependents at the “Month of the Military Child- Purple Up at the Zoo” I also had the opportunity to participate in the introduction line of staff clapping for the entrance of the military families and their children as they came into the zoo. I had wonderful conversations with the children when they came to my table after they went through the zoo. My table was right inside the entrance to the zoo.
 
Since this is how I   first started in the author business as a Military Veteran and the fact that my children were military dependents, I wanted to give back to the military families. 

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Mark McCraw, Children’s Book Author getting ready to sign a book as two military families look on
​at the books on the table.

​Wes McCraw describing “Eli’s Shenanigans” to a military member as Mark McCraw , Author looks on.