2025/Vianca-

Growing up as a military child, I never understood why my dad had to leave for such long periods of time. These long assignments would last for days. From days to weeks. From weeks to months. It would always end up just being me, my brother and my mom. Being a military child has all kinds of sacrifices, but the largest sacrifice has to be the temporary duties my dad had to attend.

When we had moved to Okinawa, Japan, my father was sent out on a mission for an entire year. This was the longest TDY he has ever been to in my whole life at that point. I could not understand how the three of us were going to grow as a family when we had such a large piece of our family missing. Nothing could ever replace that piece.

Without my dad around, it was easy to notice the silence around the house. From the loud conversations my parents would have in the living room, to a quiet living room that didn’t have the same spark as before. Even if he would bother me sporadically barging into my room, it only became empty when my dad was not always knocking on my door and checking in on me. Everything felt brighter with my entire family together. His being gone for such lengthy missions were the hardest times in my life. I knew exactly what I was missing, and yet I had no way to bring him back no matter how much I wanted to.

Despite him disappearing, my dad would always make the effort to be present in my life. He would teach me how to color inside the lines, give me the toys I always wished for, take me to places I have always wanted to see, he did it all. Even from miles away, he would send me presents and gift boxes full of all the little things he knew I would enjoy. For a dad who could never be there for me, every day of my life, he left the largest impact on how I have grown as a person. Throughout my life, I could not imagine a life without my dad right by my side, even if it had to be through video calls and text messages. He was always thinking of me, even in his toughest of military days, taking time out of his day to make sure to call me just to know how my day went.

Even if I was given the opportunity, I would not change a thing. If I were to change the assignments my dad was sent off to, he would not have been able to come back home as a hero. A hero who has all kinds of stories all around the world. A hero who would bring home awards and presents. A hero who deserved recognition for all of his hard work fighting for this country. It is a big sacrifice to make, yet it is a sacrifice I would willingly go through again as a military child.