MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. –
About an hour northeast of San Diego, a small youth camp lies in the thick forest that covers the mountains of Julian.
Camp Marston is no different from any other summer camp; brown buildings litter the landscape, arts-and-crafts projects decorate the walls, and laughter echoes through the trees as children canoe, hike and sing songs around campfires. This week though, the children are not average summer campers: these brave warriors are dealing with the deployment of a parent.
As dusk settles in, purple-clad camp counselors herd the kids up a steep, green hill to meet some special visitors. When the kids reach the top, they eye an old, brown picnic table that has now been turned into an arsenal of Marine combat gear. Behind the table are two Marines standing tall in their “Semper Fi” T-shirts. Apprehension quickly turns to joy and laughter as the Marines smile and place Kevlar helmets on their heads, wrap flak jackets around them and paint their faces with camouflage paint.
The Marines took a few hours off from their duties on the air station to visit the children on military appreciation day at “Operation Purple,” a summer camp dedicated solely to children of deployed service members.
The focus of Operation Purple is to give kids ages 7 to 17 the tools they can use to cope when their parents are in a stage of pre-deployment, deployment or post-deployment. Activities help kids communicate, learn to deal with stress and meet friends who are coping with similar feelings.
“Coming up here is the first time a lot of them have had interaction with other military kids,” said Noah Jones, the Operation Purple camp director and coordinator. “We say ‘leave the war behind, and come up here to have fun.’”
Operation Purple operates in 37 different states, and serves more than 10,000 children during the summer. This is the first Operation Purple to utilize Camp Marston though, and one of the most common sentiments from the children is that this is the first time they’ve met other kids dealing with a deployment.
“I’m kind of surprised there are other people in the world who know how I feel,” said Danielle Gonzalez, whose father is in the United States Army. “It’s really fun here; it’s the best camp ever!”
Military appreciation day is a day for kids to learn about equipment and uniforms from the different services, and it’s also an opportunity for service members to come out and help the children of their brothers and sisters in arms.
“By helping their children deal with deployments, it’s a way to help the deployed service members have one less thing to worry about,” said Cpl. Austin Goacher, a combat correspondent at the air station’s Consolidated Public Affairs Office.
After an hour of playing with the combat equipment and putting on their “war faces,” the children gathered for dinner. As soon as the Marines entered the mess hall with the kids, one of the major decorations that stood out was the pictures on the wall. The children had decorated pictures of their deployed parents to place on the “Wall of Honor.” Some of the children talked to the Marines about these pictures and opened up about the pain they have endured through multiple deployments.
“I have to stay with my mom because my dad is gone all the time, it’s hard,” said Damien Ventura, a camper who’s father is in the United States Navy.
Communication is important to help children deal with the frustration and pain from a parent’s deployment, explained Julie Riggs, the youth initiatives deputy director at the National Military Family Association.
“I see the result of our work every time I go to one of the camps,” said Riggs. “I see them open up and communicate. It’s so important to show them how proud we are of them to be our younger heroes, they serve too.”
After a messy meal of pulled pork sandwiches, french fries and s’mores, the children and Marines laughed and shared stories. Once they left the mess hall, the children gathered around the Marines and showered them with hugs, good-byes and smiles that radiated across the camp. Although nothing can replace a parent, Operation Purple is helping children get through a deployment with a week of friendship, activities and just being a kid.
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