Military kids buddy up

Published 9:00 pm Friday, July 28, 2006

ARLINGTON – The first sentence on the wish list reads, “I want world peace.”

It continues.

“I want to stop moving. I want the war to end. Stop sending troops to Iraq – It is making their kids worry.”

Sera Marcella is only 12, but she has a lot to say about her life as a military child. She wrote down her wishes on a piece of paper at Operation Purple Camp Northwest last week in Arlington.

The joint services military camp is designed for kids in seventh to 12th grades who have a parent on deployment between 2005 and 2007. Seventy-four campers attended this year.

One of the things that frustrates the children the most about their parents’ deployments is that they have to move often. Adapting to a new environment is not easy, especially when one or both parents are away.

Josh Boisvert, co-director of the camp, said the purpose is to provide the kids with a fun vacation and to help them learn how to cope with stress during their parents’ deployments.

“We want them to know that getting deployed is not a bad thing,” said Boisvert, whose father was deployed during the Gulf War. He said that helps him relate to the kids’ feelings, and that’s why he wants to help.

During the week, campers shared their feelings with each other. They learned they’re not alone.

“My dad told me being deployed means he was going to protect us and our freedom,” said 12-year-old Ashley Dunn of Arlington. Her dad was deployed last week to Iraq. “The camp makes me understand his job better.”

Just as soldiers do in the real world, the campers received a pre-deployment briefing before they began their “missions”-river rafting and mountain climbing.

Boisvert said understanding what their parents do in the military helps ease the kids’ fear that a parent will die during the deployment.

Anthony Knobel, 17, said he’s been stressed since his dad, who works for the Navy Reserve, was deployed to East Africa several months ago. Anthony will not see his dad for a year.

“He is in a bad part of the world where a lot of fighting is going on,” Knobel said. “I’ve seen him every day ever since I can remember. I’m afraid he may not come home.”

Jim Pederson, assistant public affairs officer for Naval Station Everett, said it was difficult to explain his own deployment to his family.

“My 12-year-old son said he is afraid that he would forget what I look like,” he said.

Condredge Fisher, co-director of the camp, said the camp is not about asking the children to sit down and talk about their problems. It’s about sharing each other’s stories and challenging themselves by participating in different activities.

“It’s better not to keep things bottled up,” Anthony said. “I feel less worried now after knowing other people here.”

Reporter Tieh-Pai Chen: 425-339-3432 or pchen@ heraldnet.com.