Posted on 04/25/2006 6:31:15 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, April 25, 2006 Military "brats" are powerfully shaped by the culture they grow up in, and that culture makes a lasting impression, author Mary Edwards Wertsch said.
"It has everything to do with everything that's ever happened in my life," the St. Louis resident said. Wertsch, who wrote "Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress," lived in 20 houses and attended 12 schools during her father's career as an Army infantryman. "I wouldn't trade that life for anything," she said. "I don't think I've ever met a brat who would." This culture that often feels rootless to those living in it has made Wertsch and her contemporaries who they are today, she said. A feeling of being a "nowhere kid" followed Wertsch into her adult life. It was only after seeing "The Great Santini," a character study of a gung-ho Marine pilot and his relationship with his family, in 1980 that she realized others had grown up feeling the same way she had. This revelation prompted Wertsch to write her book. "I was just totally thunderstruck by that movie. I thought, 'We weren't alone after all'," she said. "The fact is, we do come from someplace, but how are we going to know that? No one ever tells us this." It's up to brats to recognize they are part of a real culture, and with this knowledge comes an identity, she said. "I think it really puts in the missing piece of the puzzle to understand where we came from -- our own rooted culture," Wertsch said. She acknowledged there are challenges to growing up in the military culture, but noted the good outweighs the bad. "In terms of positives, oh my gosh!" Wertsch said. "We can be plunked down into any social setting and make our way very well. People of any class, any background, any line of work, we can join right in and talk with them and be quite comfortable." She remembers thinking it would be neat to be like her "civilian" cousins and go to school with people she had always known. But that lifestyle just wasn't natural for her, she said. New challenges and new places were, and brats aren't afraid of either, she said. Putting down roots, on the other hand can be difficult. "We've lived in St. Louis for 11 years, and in this particular house for 10, which is three times longer than I have ever lived anywhere in my life," she said. Wertsch and her husband, a civilian professor, raised two boys there. Wertsch said she sought to be authoritative, but not authoritarian in rearing her sons. While there were distinct rules, she said she tried to help guide them to the right choices and decisions, not just impose these upon them. At the same time, they learned very similar values to those she learned growing up, she said. Those values are at the core of her being, she said. "I'm talking about a great deal beyond waving the flag," she said. "I'm talking about rock-bottom things like integrity and honesty and an attitude of anti-racism, not just non-racism. Things like loyalty and doing what you say you're going to do -- follow-through." Wertsch said her biggest reward as a brat is the understanding that her life had meaning because she was serving a meaningful mission. "The beautiful thing about the military is that it's in service to a mission that is larger than oneself," Wertsch said. "Those of us raised in the military never lose that once we are out in civilian life. We always want to live in service." In fulfilling that desire, Wertsch has founded Brightwell Publishing, which specializes in books that explore and strengthen military brat cultural identity. |
Military Brat PING
I got her beat. I am a military brat from a broken home: 21 schools before graduating high school.
I just watched my daughter, a TCK herself, instantly bond with another TCK. Neither girl had seen each other before; they had grown up on different continents. But there were more jokes, shared experiences and understood implications that my daughter has experienced so far since she's come back to the States to college.
Being a TCK isn't bad. It is just different.
Brat bump!
I'm not in the Army anymore. But I had always told myself that I would never get married and start a family until after I got out. I saw waaaaayyyy too many screwed up marriages, and messed up kids in the years I was in to ever want to bring that on myself.
Not saying that everyone was like that, but the bad certainly did seem to outweigh and outnumber the good.
His hand has led me to work with the Boy Scouts to help 1800 youth in this county. A large number come from the miltary base nearby.
I love it!
I am going to buy the book.
Wow, my family must have been an anomoly. My dad was a lifer (Air Force) and he and my Mom had a happy marriage for 50 years, til she died, and 3 out of 4 of us have lived normal lives (2 with long term marriages and normal kids--one not married). I consider us pretty normal. Except of course we lived in places other than the US and moved alot. When I was a kid, I didn't like it (moving) but now I realize it gave me a much bigger world view. And of course it taught me that not everyone's behavior can be predicted on what I or people like me would do.
susie
Brats Unite!
Looks as if I'll have to check this book out...
Ah, well, I'm a Guard brat. Lived in the same county virtually all my life and still do.
5 of 6 kids went into the military and 4 of us are still in. Best of both worlds, I guess. It's been great to us.
You got me beat big time. I went to 13 different schools before graduation. My folks marriage had many rocky moments but they toughed it out and will celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary this Thursday. It was rough always being the new kid in school, I spent a lot of time in the Principles office, got in more fights than I could count but I wouldn't change it even if I could. I saw more of the world and lived more before 16 than most folks do in their entire life.
Yup...Military Brat and Proud of It!
Yup...I traveled all the way around the world once by the time I was 13...:)
My dad was an alcoholic (completely functional...didn't drink at work, and it didn't affect his work, but when he got home each night he would just drink himself down. He was never mean or physical, he just got really drunk and quiet.)
He and my mom had tough times, but they stuck together, and eventually my dad quit alcohol after he had been retired for 13 years, then they finally enjoyed the fruits of a relationship they never could before. It was wonderful to see. He had a stroke a few years back and passed on. I love him, and I miss him so. But I go down to Arlington to see him now and again...:)
Any former military brats calling for Rummy's resignation yet?
BTDT. Please add me to your ping list. Proud Army brat.
LMBO! I'm darn sure not.
I'm sure the Old Media would be trumpeting it, if any were.
Anyone here an alum of Bolling Field, Casablanca, Erding, or Plattsburgh?
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