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You Can’t Go Home Again

“You can’t go home again.” That quote is largely figurative to those in the civilian world, but for military brats it can be quite literal. Many civilian kids leave their hometowns to make their ways in the world, but they can always return to visit their old houses, schools and neighborhoods and see how things […]

People Are the Only Home the Army Issues

My name is Ashlee Cowles, and I am an Army brat and author. My father was in the military for the first 18 years of my life, and this experience has shaped who I am more than any other. I spent most of my high school years in Wurzburg, Germany, which gave me an international […]

A Story About My Dad: A WWII Glider Pilot

In 1960 my father was an Air Force master sergeant stationed at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan. His job was editor of the base newspaper and sometimes he would take me with him when he went out for a story or to take photos. I was 9 years old and on this day a big general was […]

Social Media a Game Changer for Modern Brats

By Lauren B. Stevens Somewhere among my boxes of childhood mementos is an old, paper pencil box. Affixed to the inside of the pencil box is my classroom schedule from fourth grade, and neatly stacked within that box are all of the letters from my pen pals; in the 1980s, P.O. Boxes were exchanged, rather […]

Sarah C.

Out of 3 daughters my father had, I was the only daughter who started out in civilian life and aged out before my dad retired from the Air force after 22 years of service. Dad went to boot camp the Monday after I was baptized at two weeks old. After that, all I knew was […]

In the Eye of the Storm

I am a brat—and I say that with great pride. My sisters and I went traipsing all over the world with my father and mother; he, a United States Army colonel; she, the general in charge of our family. Because we were brats, we grew up in the eye of the storm . . . […]

Canadian Military Brat

by Brandi U. Being a base brat had many hard times, but many benefits as well. I moved 9 times in my childhood and went to 9 different schools. My education was all over the board which only really showed up for me when I went to college. My parents had multiple affairs that led […]

David Delaunay

Hanau, Germany 1974. We transferred there from Ft. Hood, Texas. What a change! We lived in Worms and Pirmasens, Germany on our first tour in 1967, but as a teenager it was another story. First we lived in the “temps” or temporary quarters. This was the attic floor of the building and we had 6 […]

Growing Up In Japan

My memories of Japan start on May 1, 1958 when our passenger ship, a converted World War II attack transport ship , the USS Frederick Funston (APA-89), pulled into the port of Yokohama and seeing all these red flags waving and signs that said “Go home Yankees.” I asked my dad about it and he told me […]