MANSFIELD — As a military photojournalist for the Ohio Air National Guard and member of the 179th Cyberspace Wing in Mansfield, I have personally spent the past 18 years documenting so many military families emotions during deployment send-offs or coming home ceremonies along with the incredible support of our Military & Family Readiness Program.
Every April, during the Month of the Military Child, I’ve witnessed the efforts made to recognize that military children face challenges and unique experiences due to their parents’ service.
The current Military Family Readiness Program Manager, Hayley Young, often offers our members unique opportunities for our military children. This year, Young sent out the call for military children of the National Guard to submit their artwork for the White House Easter Egg Roll.
I never could have imagined that it would ultimately send my entire family to the White House.
(Photos by MSgt. Joe Harwood from the 179th Cyberspace Wing, an Ohio Air National Guard unit based at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport. The story continues below the photo gallery.)
The Egg Roll is one of the oldest standing traditions at the White House, dating back to the 1870s. Each year, the First Lady, in partnership with the American Egg Board, features a display of real hen eggs representing all 54 states, territories, and the District of Columbia, along the East Colonnade of the White House.
This year, as part of Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces Initiative, the First Lady dedicated the display to our nation’s National Guard children, selecting the art of one military child from each state or territory and invited each selected child and their siblings to attend the Egg Roll event.
When the opportunity to design an easter egg for the White House presented itself, my children were all over it. I gave them the template and simple guidelines that it should represent the state of Ohio and let their creativity run wild.
Arming themselves with markers and colored pencils, they began their masterpiece with dreams of running around the South Lawn.
I watched as our 7-year-old daughter, June, began with a red carnation, the state flower. Jason, our 12-year-old son, began with a cardinal, the state bird. I encouraged those as great starting points and let them work.
When I returned some time later, I found Jason had chosen to depict Brutus the Buckeye around a field of block M’s and O’s with various scores from several recent year’s football rivalry. I laughed and told him he must really want to win this thing, drawing Brutus when we both know he’s been raised a Michigan Wolverine fan.
He reasoned that the state of Ohio loves the rivalry, I couldn’t disagree with that sentiment. As someone born and raised in Michigan myself, and living in Ohio now over 20 years, I knew that placing a block ‘M’ in any fashion on the egg to represent Ohio was a bold move and I wished him the best of luck.
Several months later, very much to my surprise and delight, I received word Jason’s artwork had been selected to represent Ohio, and that Jason, his guardians and siblings were all invited to attend the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Jason belongs to two blended military families, myself, his mother and step-father are all serving in the Ohio Air National Guard. At his mother’s house he has four brothers and at our house he has two sisters. I responded to the White House invitation to be sure they would really like to invite Jason and all of his family.
They kindly kept the invitation open to all eleven of Jason’s blended family to attend the White House Egg Roll on April 1. This would indeed be a family trip to remember for two military families and all of these military children.
As I watched Jason and all his siblings walk the National Mall, experiencing many of our nation’s monuments together, it was clear that although Jason had won the art contest, he was able to share his prize equally with us all.
This Month of the Military Child would last forever as a core memory.
Military Family Readiness Programs and initiatives like Dr. Biden’s Joint Forces Initiatives are something I’ll never take for granted, they put the focus right on what all currently serving members hope to achieve, making this the greatest country to raise the next generation of Americans.
(This article and photos are the work of Ohio Air National Guard MSgt. Joe Harwood and are circulated by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. It is republished here with permission.)