WEBVTT

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I , I come from a long line , a long

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legacy of military service all the way

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back to my great grandfather . And so

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having a father or a stepfather and

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mother and then four grandfathers , all

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that have served was um , it was a huge

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motivating factor for me looking at and

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reflecting back at my time as a

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military child . You only hope that we

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can create the environment for our ,

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our military families and our military

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Children to also thrive and feel like

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they belong to this core community that ,

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that we get to feel every day as , as a ,

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as a group of service members . My

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mother commissioned from the University

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of Guam in 1984 into the active duty

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army as a signal corps officer . Her

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service was so , um ,

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just normal and ordinary for me as a

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military child that we didn't in the

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moment , really see how remarkable it

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was . And I think many Children

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nowadays are better at recognizing the

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sacrifices their , their parents make .

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Um , sometimes I look back and I don't

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know if I truly understood the full

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depth of it . Um , because it was ,

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it was what we experienced all the time

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and it happened so frequently , it just

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became a normal part of life . We're

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definitely not alone in it . Like

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military families are incredibly

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special . Um , they sacrifice in their

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own unique ways . And I don't know , I

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think we just owe a great debt to , to

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all of the work that they do to make

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sure that we're able to serve . Um ,

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and at the same time still try to make ,

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still try to pave the way for our , our

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military Children to be successful in

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whatever endeavor they choose in their ,

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in their lives . I've got this um ,

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this photo that keeps floating around

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and it's of me at a career day at my

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elementary school and Milani Hawaii and

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um for some reason I'm wearing my

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mother's dress her , her class B's I

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think . And and it's just , it's funny

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because it's when she was a major . And

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so I look back at that now a little bit

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as uh what was to be and I'm grateful

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for the representation that , that my

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mother um had for me and just being

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showing up every day and just doing the

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job that she did well for as long as

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she did . Uh , because I recognized

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that that was unique and looking back

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at even my peers and my , in some of my

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closest friends from my childhood time ,

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it was , it was a little rare to find a

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mother who was also the service member .

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I'm grateful that my family led me to

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this path because I'm not sure if I

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would have gotten here on my own . I I

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think I might have looked towards other

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opportunities and they encouraged me to

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try the reserve Officer training Corps .

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They encouraged me to consider service

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and and I believed them when they said

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I could do it and You know , here I am

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11 years later ,

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Hi , I have always been very proud of

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your service and I make sure that

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people know that you have , that you

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serve 14 honorable years in our army .

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And thank you for for setting the

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example of leadership . Um , and and I

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know we don't always get to see it . So

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I'm I'm grateful for for your service .

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Thank you . Um , you make me so proud

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following in the military footsteps of

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our families , you know , both of your

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sides , all of your grandparents and

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your parents and two of your parents at

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least three have served . So you are

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carrying on the tradition and we hope

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that it will continue somewhere down

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the line to making great strides

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and representing women , especially in

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the military . So I'm very proud of

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everything you've accomplished so far

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and I know there's a whole lot more to

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go .