Justin Bard is a military child who has served our country for nine years. He does not think about being a military child because it is normal for him. His mom, Tech. Sgt. Ashley Bard, 104th Fighter Wing Logistics Readiness Squadron, has served in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard his whole life. She has served her country for 19 years, and Justin has served alongside her for half of her career.
Each year, April is set aside for the month of the military child to honor their sacrifices and bravery on the homefront. The Department of Defense and military support agencies use this time to recognize and celebrate their little heroes.
“I never really knew I was a military child or thought about it,” said Justin.
Justin plays lacrosse, and his dad coaches the team. He is also getting good at his pushups as he trains for his lacrosse team. During the COVID-19 pandemic, with schools and businesses shut down, he has been busy accomplishing schoolwork like many other children across the nation.
“We are using Google classroom,” said Justin. “I have been working on spelling, reading and math.” His mom explained there are daily assignments and weekly school projects for him to accomplish.
He has been playing video games to keep in touch with his friends from school and has also been taking a lot of walks to different local places with family.
His favorite subject in school is math. Some of his favorite things to do and hobbies are playing Fortnite and playing with Rubik’s Cubes. His favorite movie is How to Train a Dragon. Justin is a big brother and likes to cuddle with his baby brother.
When Bard started working at the 104th FW, Justin was 4 years old.
Justin’s favorite memory at the base was, “The time when Santa came to the base,” he said.
He has been to the base when his mom has been recalled for duty and stayed there until child care arrangements were made in the initial stages. He can remember riding his scooter around his mom’s building.
According to Justin, his mom reads emails, replies, delivers and works on vehicles. “She gets to meet a lot of people and see a lot of things,” he said. Her job is cool because “she gets a lot of respect from people,” he said.
There are times when his mom has had drill weekend in the Air National Guard, had long duty hours and served overseas.
| Date Taken: |
04.17.2020 |
| Date Posted: |
04.17.2020 19:24 |
| Story ID: |
367758 |
| Location: |
WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Web Views: |
226 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, Meet one of our Military Child of the Month Heroes at the 104th Fighter Wing, by SMSgt Julie Avey, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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