Air Force brats come in
two sexes~boy and girl. Sometimes they come in
pairs and in some cases, more. Usually, they are
found traveling in family packs, for an Air Force
brat does spring from a breed noted for its
productiveness.
Now an air Force
brat can be a source of delight, or in many
cases, depair. He is an acrobat who breaks his
arm on the packing boxes the day before the move.
She is the tubby little invalid who just
recovered from the mumps in the back seat of the
mini van without ever feeling sorry for
herself.
He is the toughest kid
in the new neighborhood, that is until he has
proven himself. She is the shy little miss,
timidly trying to explain her Japanese robe and
European~style shoes to the folks back home. He
is the boy who when the teacher says, "Our
geography lesson today will be on Germany,"
raises his hand to inform her he was born
there.
Now an Air Force brat
sometimes looks frail, but he isn't. These kids
are made of some pretty stern stuff. His life is
plagued by a shot needle and he gets
immunizations for diseases the other kids never
heard of.
By the time he starts
to school, he has traveled more miles than many
people do in a lifetime. He accepts changes in
stride because he knows that home is where the
family is. Places change, friends depart and the
houses are different, but the Air Force brat
secure in the knowledge that God and family are
constant in his life. Early in his life he learns
that soldiers do not cry, so that when Daddy is
overseas, this is the little lad who bravely
tried to take over as head of the household. She
is the tender little lady who creeps into her
mother's bed to comfort her, then stubbornly
refuses to sleep in her own bed when Daddy comes
home.
At retreat you can spot an
Air Force brat a mile away because he is the
five~year old who solemly places his right hand
over his chest as the flag comes down. On
Memorial Day, she is the Brownie who plants the
flag on a military grave with personal knowledge
of a family friend who never came
back.
These brats are found all
over the world playing with children of other
lands. Language is no barrier and
childhood....well, childhood is their bond. They
are often arrayed in bits of Air Force clothing
or mothers high heels. He is the general with
stripes on his sleeves, and she is the angel of
mercy sticking pins in her
dolls.
To create an Air Force
brat, God combined the courage of a soldier, the
love of a mother and the faith of a child. To
this, he aded the humor of a puppy, the
flickleness of a playful breeze and the
cussedness of a first sergant. But in life's low
moments, when Daddy comes home exhausted from two
weeks in the field, and mommy's back is aching
from unpacking boxes, who is the dirty~faced
angel who sets the example with a grin? Well, you
guessed it by now....
