Thursday, June 2, 2011
Any 'military brats' among my readers?
In conversation with Miss D., the phrase 'military brat' has come up fairly often. (She's one herself.) I finally decided to investigate further, as others have used the expression to me, and I've never quite understood it.
To my astonishment, I find there's a very large body of work studying 'military brats'. It seems to be a cultural, social and psychological grouping that's uniquely American. I know there are armed forces in other countries, but this 'family formation', if I can call it that, doesn't seem to affect them quite so strongly. (Perhaps that's because they have a much smaller likelihood of being uprooted and displaced by thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of miles every few years.)
For those who'd like to know more, Wikipedia has a fairly extensive article on the subject, and (at the foot of the article) links to a number of other sources. I'd be interested to hear what any of my readers, who are themselves 'military brats', think of that article and its claims. Is the 'military brat' sub-culture as strong as they suggest? Please let us know your position in Comments.
Peter
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14 comments:
Morning Peter,
I am a Military Brat and there is a 'subculture' of Brats in America. For a great understanding of our "tribe," take a look at the Introduction of Mary Edwards Wertsch's book, "Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress," by Pat Conroy. I have a great deal more to say here, after you have the opportunity to read Conroy's Introduction...
In December 2009 I sent an email to my US Rep., Bob Latta, (R/OH) asking him to introduce legislation for congressional recognition for Military Brats.
When I see TV news articles on military families I tend to focus in on the children, the military "brats." Sometimes these kids are featured, but more often than not, they are just seen in the background. Having grown up in the Air Force, I can relate to some of the things they feel; I can appreciate their sacrifice to their parents and our country.
In 1991 Mary Edwards Wertsch wrote a book, "Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress." When I first read it, it took me quite a while just to get through the Introduction. Pat is also a military brat (Marine Corps). A couple of his more "poignant" observations:
"We are an undiscovered nation living invisibly in the body politic of this country. There are millions of us scattered throughout America, but we have no special markings or passwords to identify each other when we move into a common view of vision. We grew up as strangers to ourselves."
"Until now military brats had done everything except tell their own stories. We'd never stopped to honor ourselves, out loud, for our understanding service to America."
"Home is a foreign word in my vocabulary, and always will be." It never bothered me to move every 2-3 years; or so I used to believe. I didn’t know any difference. Today I have this ever-burning pit in my gut; a “pit” if you will, of “not belonging.” A restlessness in me that is always looking for home. At 64, I don’t know where home is today. The closest I feel to home today is whenever I visit an Air Force Base.
"This is my paradox. Because of the military life, I'm a stranger everywhere and a stranger nowhere. I can engage in a conversation, become well-liked in a matter of seconds, yet there is a distance I can never recover, a slight shiver of alienation, of not belonging, and an eye on the nearest door. The word goodbye will always be a killing thing to me, but so is the word hello."
Conroy concludes his introduction with: "I imagined that all of us could meet on some impeccably manicured field, all the military brats, in a gathering so vast that it would be like the assembling of some vivid and undauntable army. We could come together on this parade ground at dusk, million voiced and articulating our secret anthems of hurt and joy. We could praise (acknowledge*) each other in voices that understand both the magnificance and pain of our transient lives. Our greatest tragedy is we don't know each other."
"At the end of our assembly, we could pass in review in a parade of unutterable beauty."
"I would put all our fathers in the reviewing stand, and require that they come in full dress uniform and in the prime of life. I want our fathers handsome and young and feared by all the armies of the world the day they attend our parade."
"To the ancient beat of drums we could pass by these erect and silent rows of fathers. What a fearful word father is to so many of us, but not on this day, when the marchers keep perfect step and the command for "eyes right" roars through our disciplined ranks and we turn to face our fathers in that crowd of warriors."
"In this parade, these men would understand the nature and the value of their children's sacrifice for the first time. Then they would salute us, one by one, and in that salute, that one sign of recognition, of acknowledgement, they would thank us for the first time."
And so it with this "mindset" last December I undertook an initiative for a Congressional Service Medal, honoring Military Brats. What began as a "medal" is now a "lapel pin - and that's great.
The Bill is now HR 1014.
As a former military brat and now wife of a soon to be retired NCO, I thought that the Wiki for military brats was well written for a wikipedia page (I, in general, HATE wikipedia). I thought the descriptions of the cold war era military families was very accurate: highly disciplined, rigid.
The only complaint I have with the article is the whole "global/3rd culture" aspect. We have been fortunate to spend a large amount of time overseas in Europe and Asia and I would say that easily 30% of families that do go overseas only want to stay on the bases/posts/casernes and live in "Little America". There are people who won't leave the post without the military member or even sometimes won't even go that far.
I'm an Army brat, and it's tough to answer the common question, "Where are you from?" I can say where I've lived the longest (Berlin, Germany), or where I lived last (Las Vegas), but I can't really say I have a hometown.
I believe being a military brat made me flexible and adaptable, good qualities to have!
My situation was a bit different. I was the typical brat until age 10, when my parents split, then my German mom moved us to Berlin and we lived "on the economy." I was fully assimilated into German life and culture, except for my regular visits to Tempelhof AB, which became my home away from home. If I hadn't retained my military ID and benefits, I probably would have lost most of my English, and my identity as an American. As it was, as I grew up, I felt torn between feeling German and feeling American.
I don't have that identity crisis anymore. :)
Army brat here.
I was born at Peperrerl AFB in Newfoundland, moved to Ft. Devons, lived a year in England when my Dad went to Korea (Mom is English), then Ft. Monmouth, Ft. Wadsworth, then 4 more years in England (Sculthorpe RAF base then Edgeware, London when Dad was reassigned to Oxford Street). Dad had orders to Ft Huachuca, but they changed enroute to the Vietnamese Language School at Ft. Bliss. Dad went to Vietnam while we stayed in El Paso, and then came back to White Sands Missile Range where he retired.
I was more fortuante than most, since I was able to go all 4 years to the same High School.
My own Military Career took me to Ft. Dix, Ft. Monmouth, Ft. Knox, and Taegu, ROK before ETS and enlistment in the TXANG. Since I was injured in an M60 tank accident at Ft. Hood aqnd medically retired, I have carried every color Military ID card: Brown, Green, Pink, and Blue.
Navy brat here. (Parents & oldest sister born in Madison, Wisconsin, two more sisters born in San Diego, California, I was born in Pensacola, Florida, and a brother born in Portsmouth, Virginia. Then we moved to Pennsylvania when my dad left active duty.)
Of course, after High School, I entered the Navy as well.
When people ask me where I'm from, I just say that I was a Navy brat, and leave it at that,
Born at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada. Lived my first few years in Vegas, when my dad left active service we moved to Utah. He was in the reserves for several years after that, so I didn't grow up in the same culture as most service brats.
Hah, I've been to Nellis AFB several times while I lived in Vegas! :D
I'm an Air Force brat. To this day I wonder if living in Okinawa when I was little was the the first mental push to get me interested in Japanese culture.
Every time I'm on some sort of military base, I feel "at home". I wasn't really allowed to go to Nellis AFB often, but when I did, I always felt this intense sense of nostalgia and belonging. Same happened when I got to do to...I think it was Andrews AFB in Omaha? I can't remember. I've been there a few times by way of my dad.
I'm a Navy Brat
With that said I'm about halfway through the article and it dosn't say anything new or that I would have a problem with. Other than nitpicking. Then I read this
"Military children play together without recognition of parental rank and there is no segregation."
Not in my experience, (up to about 1995 and high school). You KNEW who's parents where officers. There was a definite "class" structure that was implied. You played together, but there was a difference in how you where treated by teachers and grownups.
And no segregation my ass...you lived in separate areas of the base. (guess which was better) Your parents didn't socialize between officer/enlisted spouses. In fact base housing had the name/rank right by the door.
The content is fine but form the tone it's clinical and not personal. As if the author(s) where not brats themselves.
THOTpolice
Yep, it a distinct sub-culture. When people ask me where I'm from, I usually tell them I'm a Navy brat. The Wikipedia article isn't half-bad for a Wikipedia article, and seems to mostly get it right. Any military base feels more like "home" than any place I've ever been. I attended 9 different schools from kindergarten to 12th grade. After the explicitly anti-racist upbringing (which my parents would have ensured anyway, but the culture supported), I was most unpleasantly surprised and even nauseated by the casual and unthinking racism of so many Southern whites in Pensacola. Even though Pensacola High School had maybe 10% or possibly 15% of its student body composed of Navy brats, when the National Honor Society had meetings, a large majority of the cars in the parking lot had base stickers (blue for officer, red for enlisted).
Silver, Andrews AFB is in Maryland, and yes, you've been there! LOL.
Offutt AFB is where you went with your Dad in Omaha. :)
And I agree about the nostalgia and the sense of "coming home" when on a military installation. You are so right!
My sister and I were just wondering what life would have been like if we hadn't grown up with a father that had PTSD from Vietnam - Or what if we didn't "worst case scenario" every situation like he did? He retired when I was four - but the effects of war remained with him until he died 28 years later.
I'm a Navy brat; both parents were sailors, though my mother exited the service upon that first pregnancy.
This fact had, I think, two effects on me: it gave me a healthy respect for military culture generally - when you know what's expected of you, it's a lot easier to stay on the right side of the line - and it gave me the desire to settle in one place once I finished my own tour of duty.
*waves*
Another MilBrat here. Though I was fortunate enough that my Dad was out of the army when I was still at a young age.
Mind you that didn't seem to stop a semi-nomadic behaviour on his part that seemed to last until I was an adult and moved out. But at least he kept within the same state and country...
A curse I might add, he seems to have passed onto me. Six moves in the last 4 years, and 5 moves in the 5 years before that.
A quick glance at the "Primary Features" did sorta sound like growing up on the old homestead.
"You call that good? Three shots to take down a moose? Drop and give me 20!"
I kid, I kid!
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