The Family ALSO Serves: Month of the Military Family

Marine Corps Capt. Lucas Frokjer reunites with his family on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Sept. 17, 2011, after returning from a seven-month deployment with HMH-463. Frokjer is officer in charge of the flightline assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463. The squadron arrived at Hangar 105 and were welcomed home by a large crowd of family and friends. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jacob Barber



In America, November IS the officially designated Month of the Military Family.

From the DoD:

Obama Calls on Nation to Honor Military Families, Caregivers

By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2011 – Calling on the nation to celebrate military families’ service and sacrifice, President Barack Obama today signed proclamations designating November as Military Family Month and National Family Caregivers Month.

“With every step we take on American soil, we tread on ground made safer for us through the invaluable sacrifices of our service members and their families,” the president said in his Military Family Month proclamation.

This month is devoted to celebrating military families’ exceptional service, strength and sacrifice, he said. Their commitment to the nation, he added, “goes above and beyond the call of duty.”

“Just as our troops embody the courage and character that make America's military the finest in the world,” Obama said, “their family members embody the resilience and generosity that make our communities strong.”

Families are weathering deployments and long separations while serving with heroism in their homes and neighborhoods, the president noted. Military spouses hold down home fronts, children step up to take on additional responsibilities, and parents and grandparents offer their quiet support as they wait for their loved one’s safe return.

“To these families, and to those whose service members who never come home, we bear a debt that can never be fully repaid,” the president said....

There is more on BHO's speech via the DoD here.

On the DoD site there are a few links related to Military Families, and I found this on the Family Matters Blog:

Top 10 Reasons I Appreciate Military Families

By Elaine Sanchez
Elaine.sanchez@dma.mil
Nov. 1, 2011

Today marks the first day of Military Family Appreciation Month. In honor of the occasion, I created a Top 10 list of the qualities I most appreciate about military families.

Ten qualities hardly seem enough to encompass the amazing service and sacrifice of our nation’s military families, but I figured it’s a start.

What I most appreciate about military families:

10. Their sense of humor. I think this is a prerequisite for military families — kind of an “If you don’t laugh, you cry,” complex, particularly when it comes to deployments. For instance, my friend Vivian wrote a blog post for Family Matters last year about a piece of pizza. Her Navy husband had just deployed, and the pizza was the only remnant of the family’s last meal together before he left. “So there it sits, mocking me while growing another skin in our fridge,” she wrote of that pizza, “a smelly, and somewhat odd, reminder that the man of the house, an integral piece of our family, is gone again.” Funny … and sad.

9. They’re passionate — about everything. They give their all, whether it’s volunteering in their communities, with their family readiness groups or in their kids’ schools. What’s even more impressive is they do so while balancing careers, home life, kids and education.

8. They’re strong, even under extraordinary circumstances. Due to state-of-the-art technology and medicine, the survivability of this war is unmatched by any other, and service members are returning home alive despite devastating injuries. And when they do, their families are there to embrace them. In some cases, they give up homes and careers to care for their military loved one full-time. That’s strength.

7. They’re always willing to lend each other a hand. I visited an Army post about a year ago to interview military kids and met a teenager whose parents were both deployed in Iraq. He and his two siblings were staying with his parents’ friends, who had three kids of their own. I was amazed by the couple’s selflessness at the time, but since have heard of so many other examples that I’ve realized this caring and support is simply another aspect of the military family culture.

6. They’re resilient. A decade of war, frequent deployments, moves, career and school changes. Need I say more? ....

Not that any of these are news to us who love our military families, but go read the rest of the list here... You can also find more interesting articles on the DoD Month of the Military Family here.

November may - indeed - be the officially designated month to celebrate our military families (who are the backbone of our military,) but it is a fact that they serve EVERY month, every week, every day, of every year.

I always honour our Military Families. They also serve.