Children of Military Households Go to Arlington National Cemetery, Replicate on Which means of Service > U.S. Department of War > Story

When the Senate Youth Program visited Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, March 13, the expertise held particular which means for 2 college students, each kids of army service members.  

Their go to to the cemetery preceded the Month of the Military Child, noticed each April. This observance acknowledges that, whereas service members put on the uniform, their kids share the distinctive challenges and sacrifices that include army service. 

Senate Youth Program college students Ava Ellis and Michael Carbone attend faculties inside the Department of War Education Activity, a faculty system that serves kids on American bases worldwide. Visiting Arlington National Cemetery — the place the tales of kids like them are woven into the panorama — impressed reverence and prompted each to replicate on what it means to develop up in a army household. 

Ellis, whose father serves within the Air Force and is at present stationed at Camp Humphreys in South Korea, described the expertise as “very emotional.” She added that visiting the cemetery helped her perceive elements of army life that many kids could not see.  

“As a military child, a lot of times you see the good parts, but we are often shielded from the harder aspects, especially when my dad deploys or takes on a tougher job,” she stated. “Being here opens my eyes and helps me see all aspects of it.”

For Carbone, the son of an Army soldier at present stationed at Garrison Wiesbaden in Germany, the go to introduced again reminiscences of his father’s deployments.  

“Coming in, it was very emotional,” he stated. “It made me think back to when my dad was deployed to Afghanistan and wondering if he was going to come home,” Carbone stated, including that he felt a better appreciation for each of his mother and father’ service, together with his mom’s function as a army partner. 

Senate Youth Program college students laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after which witnessed the altering of the guard. As the ceremony concluded and the acquainted notes of faucets echoed throughout the plaza, the second prompted quiet reflection for Ellis and Carbone.  

“I forgot that they play taps during the ceremony,” she stated. “You hear it on military bases every night, but hearing it here reminds you of the sacrifice behind everything.”

For army kids like Ellis and Carbone, service is woven into day by day life, shaping their views in methods lots of their friends could by no means see. Their go to to Arlington National Cemetery, shortly earlier than the Month of the Military Child, enabled them to achieve a deeper understanding of their households’ sacrifices and their very own place inside the legacy that the cemetery preserves. Ellis and Carbone’s reflections highlighted that army kids are a part of an extended historical past of service, sacrifice and remembrance — and that the cemetery honors not solely those that served, but additionally the households who stand behind them.