Not only is today Veterans Day, but this month is Military Family Month. I’m celebrating my favorite veteran, my spouse (who shared her story last Veterans Day), but also thinking about the currently serving military families among my extended family and friends.
I’m celebrating my spouse from afar this Veterans Day, however, since she is traveling on business. I worry about her, as anyone worries about a loved one traveling in this day and age — but I know that the spouses of deployed servicemembers worry even more, and with good reason.
I think about my son, who just started middle school, and who will likely progress up through the same district until he graduates from high school. Most children of servicemembers change schools every few years when their family moves because of reassignment. New places, new teachers, new friends. These kids define resilient.
For LGB servicemembers, things are looking better in this post-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell world. As I wrote a few weeks ago, LGB servicemembers are increasingly out and their spouses are showing they can contribute to the well-being and readiness of their units just as well as any. Challenges still remain, however. Transgender members still serve in silence. Same-sex spouses of veterans living in states that do not honor their marriages are denied spousal benefits, including veterans’ benefits, and sometimes parental recognition. They may also not be recognized at all duty stations around the world.
We can do better. Our country should “serve these families as well as they serve us,” as President Obama said in his proclamation for Military Family Month — and that means all military families.
Here’s to all who serve, then, today, this month, and all year round.