The six military children who received named as recipients of Operation Homefront’s 2016 Military Child of the Year award "have not just gotten by in the military lifestyle, they have thrived with the challenges associated with the military lifestyle," said Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking at the awards gala honoring the children.
"The resilience of our families and particularly what we recognize and honor tonight, the resilience of our children, is absolutely what has allowed us do the things we've asked our armed forces to do for the last 14 years," Dunford said, adding that it holds true for other wartime eras.
"The strength of the armed forces, the strength of our nation is in fact in many ways our military families," Dunford said.
This year's recipients come from a variety of backgrounds and experience, but they all have one thing in common beyond military life:
They've already made a difference in the lives of many.
The youngest two recipients, Lorelei McIntyre-Brewer, 11, and Christian Fagala, 10, have overcome difficult medical challenges. Another recipient, Jeffrey Burds, 17, lost his mother when he was 9. This year, for the first time, the sister of a previous Military Child of the Year will receive the award – Lorelei, whose brother Cavan was the 2015 Army Military Child of the Year winner.
Winners of the winners received $10,000 and were flown with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., for the gala. The children and their families will also receive a free cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines, announced the gala emcee, John Heald, brand ambassador and senior cruise director for the cruise line.
This is the eighth annual year that Operation Homefront has held the awards. This year, 502 nominations were received, said Operation Homefront spokesman Aaron Taylor.
"The children in our military families demonstrate the best in our society and our Military Child of the Year award recipients are extraordinary representatives of this spirit of selfless service," said retired Air Force Brig Gen. John I. Pray, Jr., president and CEO of Operation Homefront, in a statement announcing the selections. "They perform at a very high level both in and out of school while simultaneously dealing with parental deployments, recurring relocations, and other challenges associated with military life."
Dunford praised Operation Homefront for celebrating the strength of military children and military families.
"Frankly, I can tell you from personal experience, there's no way I'd be standing here today — that after 39 years of active duty I'd still be doing this — if our children hadn't had the resilience to deal with the military lifestyle, and if Ellyn and I didn't think we could move our children from place to place and from school to school, and that somehow they'd figure out a way to adapt and become young adults contributing to society.
"Had we not thought we could do that in the military, we would not have been able to make the choices we made," he said.
The recipients are:
Madeleine Morlino
Photo Credit: courtesy of Operation Homefront
Air Force: Madeleine Morlino, 17, of Moorestown, New Jersey, daughter of Kerry Ann Morlino and retired Master Sgt. Leonard Morlino. Because of the challenges her family faced when her father retired from active duty, the military, she has set out to make the transition easier for other service members.
She developed, organized and led a successful job expo for veterans in her town. The future Air Force Academy cadet has a 4.23 weighted grade-point average. Madeliene also volunteers at the VA Disabled Veterans Physiotherapy Clinic in Philadelphia. She received the Good Citizenship Award from the Union League of Philadelphia, and she volunteers at the National Constitution Center, the Burlington County Animal Association, Soles 4 Souls, and created, with her sister, Eleanor, the Young Americans For Freedom group at Moorestown High School. During her father's service, she relocated with her family three times and went through experienced a cumulative 32 months of deployments.
Lorelei McIntyre-Brewer
Photo Credit: courtesy of Operation Homefront
Army: Lorelei McIntyre-Brewer, 11, of Duncannon, Pennsylvania, daughter of Michelle McIntyre-Brewer and Capt. Steven Brewer. She was missing half of her heart before she was born and has undergone 18 medical procedures, including three open-heart surgeries. She has been involved in heightening awareness of conditions like hers through the Congenital Heart Information Network. In addition, she has been involved in numerous charitable works in her community, with groups such as Heart Hugs, Brittany's Hope, and Susquehanna Service Dogs.
She has volunteered for her brother's Socks for Vets effort, collecting goods and helping train and care for those who deliver the goods to veterans.
Keegan Fike
Photo Credit: courtesy of Operation Homefront
Coast Guard: Keegan Fike, 17, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, is the son of Rebecca Fike and Lt. Brent Fike. He has been active in Boy Scouts with his work ranging from organizing food drives to mentoring Cub Scouts and junior Boy Scouts as an assistant scoutmaster, and leading sessions on fire safety, flag etiquette and other instruction. Town of Fairhaven officials thanked him for leading an Eagle Scout project that restored five weather-beaten and rusted cannons at Fort Phoenix.
Keegan also received an excellence award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Boston/New England for his high school media production titled "My Hero Is ..."
His father has been deployed a cumulative 125 months in Keegan's life, and he has experienced six permanent change-of-station moves.
Christian Fagala
Photo Credit: courtesy of Operation Homefront
Marine Corps: Christian Fagala, 10, of Quantico, Virginia, is the son of Diana Fagala and Capt. Justin Fagala. Christian was diagnosed with cancer when he was 2 and had a harder time learning because of the cognitive effects of chemotherapy, but has achieved an advanced reading level and exceeded academic expectations. When he was 4 years old, he began doing speaking engagements on behalf of child cancer programs, and eh's started his own campaign for childhood cancer awareness.
Christian has raised more than $20,000 in the last few years for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In the meantime, the 10-year-old has given more than 100 volunteer hours to a homeless outreach program. He's also participated in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Christian has relocated four times already in permanent change-of-station moves and experienced 16 months of his father's deployment.
John "Trip" Landon III
Photo Credit: courtesy of Operation Homefront
National Guard: John "Trip" Landon III, 17, of Ellensburg, Washington, is the son of Laura Landon and Army National Guard Capt. John Landon II.
Trip, who is home schooled, is a National Honor Society member with a 3.9 grade-point average. He participates in extracurricular activities at Ellensburg High School and volunteers in faith-based service to his community.
The Silver Palm-awarded Eagle Scout achieved the rank of Eagle Scout when he was 14. He wants to work in prosthetics engineering to help wounded warriors return to service.
He's a violinist and pianist who plays in the Ellensburg High School Orchestra and performs three solo recitals and six concerts each year. He also performs with numerous drama teams.
Jeffrey Burds
Photo Credit: courtesy of Operation Homefront
Navy: Jeffrey Burds, 17, of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is the son of the late Debra Rae Burds and Navy Master Chief Hospital Corpsman Joseph Burds. Jeffrey's mother died when he was 9 years old, and the day before she died, she told him, "Do great things in life." He has taken those words to heart, participating in a number of charitable efforts including Students Against Destructive Decisions, Special Olympics, American Cancer Society Relay for Life, and the Semper Fi Fund Outdoor Odyssey.
He is a National Honor Society member with a 3.94 grade-point average and executive officer of the Camp Lejeune High School Marine Corps JROTC. In 2014, he was named most valuable player in track, was the MVP defensive most valuable player in football, and won the sportsmanship award in basketball. He was captain of his football and track teams. All this, through eight military PCS moves and 66 months of his father’s deployments.
Karen Jowers covers military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times. She can be reached at kjowers@militarytimes.com.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
