Table of Contents
Letter of Introduction
Press Release
Donna Musil Op Ed Article
History of the Military
BRAT
Newspaper Articles
Petitions
BRAT Groups Supporting
BRATS
BRAT Letters on being a
BRAT
BRAT Letters of Concern
Regarding Operation Champs
Administrators Contact
Information
LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
Until the widespread use of the Internet and Social Media Brat Groups
worked tirelessly in the background to support our Military BRATS. Many military BRATS, upon returning to the
United States, decided that current and future BRATS needed support with issues
only a BRAT will experience. BRAT groups
have filmed documentaries, formed non profits with the proceeds of business
going to support BRAT issues, causes, scholarships, written books and formed
groups where BRATS can be at “home”.
Many of us did not grow up in one place and don’t have long term
childhood relationships or even close relationships with grandparents, cousins,
Aunts and Uncles because we may see them for one week every two years.
It has come to our attention that two
civilian women, Jen and Debbie Fink, have decided that our BRAT name should be
changed to Champs which stands for Child Heroes Attached to Military Parents. They have created a non-profit organization
called Operation C.H.A.M.P.s and have written a book called “The Little Champs”. Their book is printed through their for
profit company, Harmony Hearth, LLC. The
book states that BRATS are now CHAMPs.
Debbie Fink says, “Some may wonder: “What’s wrong
with the term, military brat? Why C.H.A.M.P.S?”
While most children of military personnel learn
over time that “brat” is an endearing term, their civilian peers are not likely
to understand. More importantly, the Finks believe the term might even lend to
a negative first impression for C.H.A.M.P.S.
The modern word brat actually came from an acronym
that dates back hundreds of years into the British Empire. It originally stood
for British Regiment Attached Traveler.
“We declared our independence 236 years ago and
it’s about time our Little C.H.A.M.P.S did the same,” Debbie Fink said.
“There’s no need to give them a label that may add to their already challenging
situation. Why not call them what they are? Little C.H.A.M.P.S!”
Instead of teaching
military children that they have a rich history and heritage that is over 200
years old the Finks say that we have been BRATS for 236 years and it’s time
that we break free and become what we are "CHAMPs". We don’t want to change who we are and what
we are called. The Finks’ are calling
military children heroes. Hero is a term
to be used sparingly and with the utmost respect. It is used to describe those men and women
who have laid down their lives in service to others. BRATS are not heroes. Our parents are heroes.
Hero: One who lays down his own life so that others
can live.
The blood that has forever stained the beaches of Normandy is the blood
of heroes.
Hero: A man
or woman willing to sacrifice themselves to help others without the
consideration of their own safety.
Those who face fire without fear. Those who step into the darkness
without assurances of ever walking out again, because they know there are
others waiting in the dark for salvation.
Firefighters, Police Officers, Soldiers…
We
overuse the word “hero” to such an extent that it doesn’t really mean anything
anymore. According to common parlance,
almost nobody isn’t a hero. It mirrors
the classic injunction that “saying that everyone is special is another way of
saying that no one is.
Hero
is a big word. It used to be historic,
epic, legendary.
http://bigthink.com/the-proverbial-skeptic/who-is-a-hero
We have united with the common goal of retaining our name and letting young BRATS know that we are here to offer support. There is an entire community of BRATS supporting BRATS that young BRATS can count on! We are loud, we are proud and we will not change our name! BRATS are not Champs!
We have united with the common goal of retaining our name and letting young BRATS know that we are here to offer support. There is an entire community of BRATS supporting BRATS that young BRATS can count on! We are loud, we are proud and we will not change our name! BRATS are not Champs!
Contact:
Marc Curtis
Military
Brat Network
Phone
909-557-5550
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2014 |
 |
Press
Release
Identity Theft of 15 Million - Brats
What’s
in a name?
Costa
Mesa, CA November 13, 2014 : Approximately 15
million U.S. Military Brats are facing the ultimate Identity Theft, and they are “up in arms” about
it. An attempt is underway to rob this
American sub-culture of the name they have embraced for decades: “Military BRAT”.
An organization is attempting to
change the name “BRAT” to “CHAMPS.” They use the acronym Child Heroes Attached (to) Military Personnel. We object strongly to such an identity theft.
For one thing, we as Military Brats are not heroes. The title of “hero” belongs to our parent(s)
who served in the military. On the
various websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook Pages for Military Brats there
has been an outcry against this attempt to take away our cultural identity. The organization promoting this change was
created by people who are not Military Brats and not connected to the military.
To the non-military citizen, the word
“brat” has a negative connotation.
For example, nobody enjoys a “spoiled brat.”
One dictionary definition of ‘brat’ is “a child of.” So a “Military BRAT” is defined as a child of
the military. The origin of the term is
believed by many to be an acronym derived from British Regiment Attached Traveler. Variations developed recently such as Bold Responsible Adaptable Tolerant. Regardless of clever acronyms,
it is considered an honor to hold the title of “Military BRAT.” It cannot be chosen; it is bestowed at birth
and by living a unique lifestyle that only those who experienced it can truly
understand. Regardless of any acronym,
we embrace the word “brat” and resent the marginalization and disenfranchising
of our culture.
Our name is important to us.
Stealing someone’s identity is a crime.
In this case, roughly 15 million Brats who have remained in the
background are speaking out loudly against this offense.
For more information about the culture
of Military Brats please contact us and we will put you in touch with one of our representatives.
###
The Military Brats Network
is a collection of Military Brat related resources to point people to the
organizations that can help them understand their unique life.
We’re
Military “Brats,” Not Heroes, Champs, Little Soldiers, or Fledglings
An Op-Ed about an Outsider’s Attempt to
Rename a Proud American Culture
December
9, 2014
By
Donna Musil, Executive Director, Brats Without Borders
Writer-Director
of “BRATS: Our Journey Home,” a documentary narrated by Kris Kristofferson
Can you imagine the outrage if the
USO bought thousands of copies of a non-vet’s book about how it feels to be a
vet, then paid him to traipse around the world singing songs about a war he
never fought, while unilaterally renaming vets “Hero Volunteers” and treating
vets with PTSD as if they were defective and just not “resilient” enough?
That’s what’s happening to 15
million Americans who have grown up in military families. For as long as anyone can remember, these
proud citizens have called themselves military ‘brats,” but recently, a small
group of non-brats has been trying to “rebrand” this 200-plus-years culture
into “CHAMPS,” or “Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel.” In my opinion, with very few exceptions,
those 15 million military brats are not happy with this rebranding effort.
To the non-military-connected, the
word brat may have negative
connotations, but to the military child, it has just the right amount of spunk
necessary to make it through the next move, the next deployment, or the next
sacrifice for the Military Mission. When
these children leave the military, by way of graduation or their parent’s
retirement, there are hundreds of brat alumni organizations, websites, blogs,
and Facebook pages through which they can keep in contact with all the friends,
teachers, coaches, and dreams they had to abandon over the years in the name of
duty, honor, and country. It’s their one
“root”. Now Debbie and Jennifer Fink and
their “Operation CHAMPS” initiative are trying to take that root away. No one really knows there the term brat originated. British military children were called both
“British Regiment Attached Travelers” and “barrack rats,” which could’ve been
shortened to brats. Poets referred to
military children as brats as far back as 1707.
Some think it just means “a child.”
Others have come up with creative acronyms like “Bold Responsible Adaptable Tolerant.” Wherever it
originated, it stuck, and millions of people who grew up in military families
(from America, Britain, Canada, Australia, etc.) call themselves brats.
On November 24th, the
Finks issued a statement denying attempts to “reject or denigrate the term
BRATS,” but a multitude of interviews and publicity materials say
otherwise. In a 2012 USO article by
Joseph Lee, Debbie Fink said, “We declared our independence 236 years ago and
it’s about time our Little C.H.A.M.P.S did the same.
Why would anyone try to
disenfranchise a proud culture to which they don’t even belong? The Finks claim a goal of their “public
health and education initiative” is to help civilian children “understand”
military children. They have managed to
convince some heavy-hitters behind their efforts, from the USO to the Red Cross
to First Lady Michelle Obama. The USO
sent the Finks on a work-wide book tour to military base schools in Europe and
Asia. Unfortunately, there are few
civilian students attending those schools who need to be enlightened by the
Finks. This oversight is not surprising,
since neither the Finks, nor most individuals leading current military child
organizations, grew up military.
Here’s how it seems to work. The Finks wrote a $10 children’s book, “The
Little C.H.A.M.P.S,” and sell an accompanying $399 “CHAMPkit.” Their for-profit company, Harmony Hearth,
LLC, owns all the rights to the book and kit, and is trade marking “CHAMPS.” The Finks solicit donors to buy the books to
“give away” through the non-profit. I
can only assume the non-profit buys the books for the for-profit. We’re not talking about a couple hundred
books. We’re talking thousands of books.
The Finks say they donate the
“profits” from their for-profit book sales to the non-profit. So why didn’t
they just publish the book through the non-profit? Only the Finks know, because the public can’t
see their for-profit salaries or expenses.
Perhaps they received advice from the book’s illustrator, Walter
Blackwell, who resigned in 2008 as CEO/President of the National Veterans
Business Development Corporation after a Senate inquiry. According to a 2008 New York Times article by Elizabeth Olson, “A Nonprofit for Veterans
is Faulted On Spending,” the Senate reported that the money spent on helping
veterans start and expand new businesses was dwindling, while its executives
spent thousands of federal dollars on “expensive dinners, luxury hotels,
first-class travel and high salaries.”
There have always been, and there
always will be, individuals and organizations that try to profit from the
military and military families. Some of
them provide real services in return and some don’t. In my opinion – as a proud Army brat who
moved twelve times across three continents, went to eleven schools in thirteen
years, watched my father go to war (then die eight years later when I was in
high school), and as an adult brat who has spent the last 15 years trying to
raise awareness of the culture, contributions, and challenges of military brats
– The Fink’s “Little C.H.A.M.P.S” initiative does not.
Some choose to believe the Finks are
well-intentioned. All I know for sure is
that I spoke with Debbie Fink in 2011 before she finished her book. She told me she was originally going to
entitle it, “The Little Brats,” but the Military Child Education Coalition
(MCEC) told her they wouldn’t endorse any book with “brat” in the title. I explained what the word meant to our
culture. I shared with her our own
initiatives, including our cultural competency workshops, traveling art
exhibit, and BRATS Clubs for military children attending civilian schools. I sent her a copy of the documentary, BRATS:
Our Journey Home (which is owned by the non-profit, Brats Without
Borders) and she promised t send me a working draft of her book. I never received it. A year later, The Little C.H.A.M.P.S was published and the Operation CHAMPS
initiative was launched offering the book and free babysitting for military
families by college students. In the
past week, MCEC has officially withdrawn support for the “Little CHAMPS”
program.
Make no mistake – this s not just
about a word. In my opinion “rebranding” military brats to
“CHAMPS” marginalizes and disenfranchises millions of Americans of all ages,
races, and walks of life, in order to sell a product. Meanwhile, dozens of small groups and
non-profits run by and for brats with programs and materials based on real
research and actual experiences, are ignored – organizations like Brats Without
Borders, the Military Brat Registry, the Military Kid Art Project, Books for
Brats, Overseas Brats, Operation Footlocker, Brightwell Publishing, the
BRATpin, Military Brats Online, United Children of Veterans, the American Overseas
Schools Historical Society, and more. Some of these organizations have been
around for three decades, quietly helping their fellow brats, young and old,
while the well-intentioned USO sends interlopers like the Finks on world tours
and thinks they have done something special to help military children. They haven’t.
Because at the end of the day, military children still don’t have
“anyone who understands them,” because they have been alienated by groups like
the Finks from the only ones who do – their
fellow brats. Donna Musil is the
Executive Director of Brats Without Borders, a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit
founded in 1999 to provide educational outreach, support, materials, and
research to enrich the lives of Military “Brats” and “Third Culture Kids” of
all ages (Federal Tax ID#
58-2486120). She is also the Writer –
Director of BRATS: Our Journey Home, the first documentary about “growing up
military,” as well as a non-practicing attorney, with and ABJ in Journalism and
a JD from the University of Georgia.
For
more information about Brats Without Border Projects & Programs, see www.bratsourjourneyhome.com/BWBPrograms.pdf.
History
of the Military Brat
BRAT
is a time honored moniker for military children. It is based on the acronym, “British
Regimental Attached Traveler.” Not all BRATS are military BRATS. Children of Diplomats or of parents in the
Diplomatic Service are BRATS. Children
of civilians affiliated with military bases are BRATS. British military children are BRATS and
Canadian military children also call themselves BRATS. Not all BRATS lived overseas and some of us
moved more than others. Most BRATS will
move several times and go to 8 or more schools during their childhood. Some of us went to 4 different schools in
High School. When we turn 18 or 21 we
turn in our ID cards, can no longer shop at the BX/PX, can’t visit the bases
and schools where we grew up, can’t go to our military doctor or to the base
movies, pool and many other places that suddenly become off limits to us. Many of us suffer from culture shock upon
returning to the United States. We are
outsiders. What we do have is our BRAT
heritage, history, identity and other BRATS.
BRATS come from every race, age, class, religion and race. We are proud
to have earned the title BRAT!
- · 15 million adult BRATS have/had at least one career parent
- · 1.5 million current military BRATS have at least one parent serving in the armed services
- · 4.5 million adult BRATS have parents that served overseas in a capacity other than the armed services
Military brats or CHAMPS? Authors' proposed
name change riles up locals
Lexi Vermeire spends time volunteering to teach and mentor
second grade students of Ramstein Air Force Base elementary school before her
own classes start in high school on Jan. 28, 2013
|
|
Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Published: November 15, 2014
RELATED
·
Every year, former military brats party like it's 1969
For these baby boomers who grew up as
military brats, who moved every few years with parents in the service, it's a
way to anchor their mobile childhoods by zeroing in on the most impressionable
period: the high school years.
(MCT) —
Area military families seem less than enthused about a proposed replacement for
the term “military brat.”
For
about a year, the USO and other military organizations have worked with two
women who wrote a book for elementary-aged children called "Little
C.H.A.M.P.S.”
It
encourages military children to refer to themselves as C.H.A.M.P.S., or Child
Heroes Attached to Military Personnel, instead of the traditional term.
A
co-author Debbie Fink, told the USO in a news article from Oct. 2012, that they
proposed the term change to help facilitate understanding between military and
civilian children.
The
word brat likely originated from an acronym that dates back to the British
Empire, originally standing for British Regiment Attached Traveler.
“We
declared our independence 236 years ago and it’s about time our Little
C.H.A.M.P.S did the same,” Fink said in the article on the USO page. “There’s
no need to give them a label that may add to their already challenging
situation. Why not call them what they are? Little C.H.A.M.P.S!”
Across
the Internet, and most certainly along the Emerald Coast, people seem less than
inclined to agree with Fink’s rationale.
“Their
term does not connect with me,” said Michelle Moeller, whose father was
stationed at Eglin and Hurlburt. “So many people are looking at this like, ‘Why
are they trying to take my identity?’ ”
Moeller
said numerous online forums are built around the military brat term, including
Brats without Borders and the Military Brat Network, which put out a release
Thursday condemning the name change.
A
change.org petition was also started by “All Past Present and Future Military Brats.”
It was addressed to the company who published Fink’s book.
As of
Friday, it had been signed by more than 2,600 people.
“I’ve
been a brat my whole life,” Moeller said. “So why change it now?”
Calls
to the USO were directed to the authors, who are currently on tour.
Locals react
Daily
News readers on Facebook were pretty united in their opinions.
Laura
LeNoir *rolls eyes* This is silly. Proud military (Air Force) BRAT right here.
Grew up military and married military. I've NEVER found the term to be offensive
or negative. I almost find it endearing! Leave it be already!
Jeff
Williams Did some little brat get his feelings hurt? Good grief, leave the
terminology alone.... nothing wrong with being called a military brat, most of
us in the area wear the term with pride and honor.
Lara
Lynn I'm a proud USAF brat. Not a hero. My dad was the hero.
Ashley
Parks Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel sounds a bit entitled and
dependent... When in reality, we military brats are very independent, highly
adaptable, and not entitled at all!
———
©2014 the Northwest Florida
Daily News (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) Distributed by MCT Information Services
Newspaper
article links:
http://m.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Military-brat-a-badge-of-honor-5923239.php
Retired Air Force Fighter
Pilot Works to Honor Military Brats
Bob Holliker, of Monclova
Township, has sold nearly $25,000 in Brat Pin merchandise since launching
www.bratpin.com in October 2013. His goal is to bring recognition to the
children of military personnel, who are often overlooked.
MIRROR PHOTO BY KAREN BERGER.
MIRROR PHOTO BY KAREN BERGER.
BY KAREN
BERGER | MIRROR REPORTER — To his Monclova Township
neighbors, Bob Holliker is known for his humorous signs promoting “Free Leaves”
or the “Amazing Soy Bean Maze.” But across the country, the retired Air Force
pilot is becoming known as an advocate for brats – the children of career
military personnel. Holliker created the Brat Pin. At his website,
www.bratpin.com, lapel pins, pendants, dog tags and bumper stickers are among
the products for sale. Launched in October 2013, Holliker’s website has sold
over $25,000 in merchandise worldwide. Born in Whitehouse, Holliker was 4 when
his father decided, upon being recalled to serve in Korea, to make the Air
Force his career. “I spent 17 years as a brat, four in the ROTC and 20 on
active duty,” said the Vietnam veteran. “As a kid, I moved 14 times and went to
16 schools, including four high schools in three countries – the United States,
France and Germany.” He studied math and biology at BGSU for four years, living
with his grandmother in Whitehouse. In 1968 he went on active duty with the Air
Force, serving as a pilot for 18 of the 20 years, stationed in several bases in
the United States as well as Australia. He continued his flying career as a
commercial airline pilot for Northwest Airlines before returning to his
hometown. It was during retirement that Holliker began reading Mary Edwards
Wertsch’s book, Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress. Pat
Conroy’s introduction hit him to the core, describing brats as an undiscovered
nation who have never been honored – by themselves or others – for their
service. Holliker began paying attention to the kids on news programs showing
returning soldiers. “You see the husbands and wives hugging, but the kids are
always silently in the background,” he said. Instead of lamenting that fact,
Holliker decided to take action. In December 2009, he contacted U.S. Rep. Bob
Latta about getting a lapel pin designed for the 15 million children of current
and former military personnel. Legislation was introduced in Congress, but
stalled, and it’s been in committee for four years. Holliker has a few choice
words for the lack of progress. Rather than wait for Latta to push the bill
through, Holliker decided to create the pin on his own, using a white dandelion
as its insignia. The official flower of the military child is a dandelion,
because, according to an anonymous author, “It puts down roots almost anywhere,
and it’s almost impossible to destroy. It’s a survivor in a broad range of
climates. Military children bloom everywhere the wind carries them.” While he
hasn’t yet obtained a 501c3 status, he’s giving a portion of his proceeds to
the Museum of American Military Families to help with educational programs for
military brats. He’d also like to raise money for kids with post-traumatic
stress disorder – an outcome of always wondering if Mom or Dad is going to come
back alive after being sent overseas, he said. With the Brat Pin project,
Holliker hopes to shed light on what these kids experience. “I spent my entire
youth in grief – always leaving and saying goodbye. I didn’t think it was hard.
It was my normal to pick up and move every two years,” he said. “But there’s a
sense of wandering and not belonging. I grew up never knowing anyone well,
least of all myself. You’re too busy reacting.” Through the Brat Pin project,
Holliker has also given brats a forum for sharing those stories, and an
opportunity to feel like a part of a group. “I’d like to see all the brats come
together,” he said. To this day, he still doesn’t feel at home until he drives
through the gates of the 180th Fighter Wing, where his son and daughter-in-law
work. While Holliker was never stationed there, it’s where he’s most
comfortable, he said. To find out more about Brat Pins, visit www.bratpin.com or e-mail brat01
Petitioning President of the United States of America President Barack Obama and 10 others
Our request is that you change the name of "Operation CHAMPS", "The Little Champs" and anything else referring to us BRATS as a "CHAMP" and never refer to us military BRATS as "Champs" again. Stop calling all Military BRATS, "CHAMPS".
As an Army BRAT and now a Military Wife, I can legitimately say for all of us BRATS, We are NOT "champs" WE ARE BRATS! We are PROUD of our badge and we don't appreciate anyone attempting to take it from us by calling us CHAMPS or even trademarking the term for use of us. Anyone can write a children’s book on being a BRAT, and it is not a negative connotation, it is a way of life. While the intentions behind "Operation CHAMPS" may be good, changing our title is not good, and also isn’t just going to impact this generation. The title BRAT is ours. It is of those that came before us, it is ours, our children’s, our grandchildren’s and our grandchildren’s children etc. It is tradition, it's our life and anyone who knows anything about the military knows that we follow tradition heavily.
What does BRAT stand for? Today's term BRAT has been passed down through the generations of military communities. Many researchers believe that it may come from an acronym that dates back into the British Empire hundreds of years ago. B.R.A.T. stood for British Regiment Attached Traveler at that time.
Now, BRAT stands for this:
BOLDNESS- to bravely go where others dare not
RESPONSIBILITY- to live in Service and Honor of God, Family and Country
ADAPTABILITY- to be at home anywhere
TOLERANCE- to love and respect all mankind
Brat is a title we are proud to wear, it's ours and was given by birthright. There's no chance in hell we will embrace this "champ" title. It's the military soldiers that are the heroes! We are merely the children of those heroes. We are BRATs by birth, lived it, breathed it, it's part of our life don't force feed nor shove a title down our throats that we do not want, like, nor feel it fits who we are as military dependents.
In the BRAT community you will find a wide variety of members from multiple generations and backgrounds. Our stories often contain sights and scenes no longer in existence where our communities lived. Unlike civilians who are able to have high school reunions, we aren't able to have a "place to call home". There are a lot of things we may have missed out on, but we wouldn't change a thing. The opportunity to experience different countries, cultures and living in a new place every so many years was priceless. The lifestyle we experienced is like no other, yet the amazing places we visited were beyond exciting, it's who we are, yet all we know and it feels like the Finks and their counterparts are stripping away our identity by taking that brat name away. Never once have we been embarrassed or ashamed to be called a brat.
Why change something that has such a long history and acknowledgment? There are many other things that are more important to change. Our parents are the big heroes, but every one of us is also a hero in another regard. Our parents and possibly us, in others instances, put their lives on the line. We didn't live the normal American life, in fact, we lived far more rewarding lives in general. Yes, we made sacrifices that we might or might not have been asked about, but we made them none the less.
We are offended by someone forcing the term "CHAMPS" on all military children (BRATS) past, present and future!
Thank you for your support in this matter.
LETTER TO
President of the United States of America President Barack Obama
U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
and 8 others
Our request is that you change the name of "Operation CHAMPS", "The Little Champs" and anything else referring to us BRATS and our children or our grandchildren and their children as a "CHAMP" and never refer to us military BRATS as "Champs" again. Stop calling all Military BRATS, "CHAMPS".
Brat Groups Helping Brats
Operation
Military Brat – Operation Military
BRAT® is steadily growing to help
resolve the pressures which military children experience at a much higher
degree than do civilian kids. SOT is working with and developing programs that
increase the well-being of military youth via summer camps, free Soldiers'
Nights at local sporting events, better public awareness of their presence and
needs, connection of civilian youth with them, and other activities bringing
military kids together with their peers. Affectionately self-named
"military brats," military kids experience childhood and teen
pressure to the tenth power: PRIDE, SERVICE, COMMUNITY, DIVERSITY, SEPARATION,
TRADITION, RECOGNITION, LOSS, TRANSITION, WORRY.
One of the main goals of Support Our
Troops® is to shore up the barricades and help keep these families intact. Many
of our efforts focus on military children and solo parents struggling to feed,
clothe and educate them.
We know that we as a nation ask a great
deal of these young families as they defend us. It is our moral duty to back
them up in return.
Operation
We are Here – is a one stop Hub of resources for the military community and
military supporters that offers a clearinghouse of resources for the military,
practical insights in caring for the military community, a list for military
supporters and free thank you cards to download. Our mission is to create an
awareness of the challenges of the military communities and individuals on how
to support and encourage the military community and to provide a comprehensive
list of resources for the military community and its supporters.
Operation Flat Brat – Provides a gender neutral printable
page for military children (aka military Brats) to color and send to their
deployed parent to help bridge the gap between the deployed parent and the
military child.
Books for Brats– the
first children’s picture books for Military Brats.
Brats Without Borders
– the oldest 501 (c)(3) non profit in the country, producing programs and
materials that raise awareness of the culture, contributions, and challenges of
military “brats” and third culture kids,” young and old.
BRATS Support Network & Discussion Forum – the official Brats Without Borders Discussion Board.
Military Brats Registry
– the largest registry and search site for military brats, and sponsor of the
“Every Brat Has a Story” gatherings and cruises.
BRATpin - BRATpin offers 75 items in their store with proceeds benefiting BRATS. Soon to be supporting BRAT museum.
Overseas Brats – the original sponsor of reunions and gatherings for overseas Brats.
Overseas Brats – the original sponsor of reunions and gatherings for overseas Brats.
The Museum of the American Military Family – a wonderful group led b
Circe Woessner, a DoDDS “brat” and former
military spouse, whose mission is to bring together people with shared
experiences to showcase and honor America’s Military Families.
Operation Military Kids (OMK)
– the U.S. Army’s collaborative effort with America’s communities to support
the children and youth impacted by deployment.
Military
Community Youth Ministries – an
ecumenical Christian ministry reaching out to current military teens, whether
stateside of overseas.
http://www.brightwellpublishing.net/ - publisher of quality books which explore and strengthen the
cultural identity of military Brats, founded by author Mary Edwards Wertsch.
tckid – an internet forum & blog community for current
third culture kids and cross cultural kids.
TCK World
a website with stories, articles and research about Third Culture Kids
and Cross Cultural Kids.
Military Brats Online
– a website supporting Brats
Overseas Brats – online community for overseas
Brats and Military Brats.
Cards for Vets - Custom trading cards for the men and women who servie or have served in our armed forces.
Cards for Vets - Custom trading cards for the men and women who servie or have served in our armed forces.
Brat Groups Seek Funding
Joseph Condrill , “Over the years OVERSEAS BRATS has sought
funding, but we've never been successful. We have had to rely on the Brat
community to join us and get involved.”
Bob Holliker of The Brat Pin has approached Congressman Bob
Latta regarding legislation and issuance of a National Medal Service for
Children of Military Service Members.
This led to the creation of bill H.R. 5333. Children of Military Service Members
Commemorative Lapel Pin Act, May 2010 which was relegated to “committee” where
it has sat for over 4 years. During an
interview Lt. Colonel (ret) was asked how long his bill had sat idle. The interviewer asked why he didn’t do it
himself. To date Lt. Col. Holliker has
recouped ½ of his initial investment of $33,000. What started out as a site that sold 3
products now has 75 products for sale.
Many Brat operated groups have sought funding in the past
and been denied. They operate on product
sales, donations and fundraisers.
What it Means to Be a BRAT
(Letters By Brats about who we are)
What it means to me to be a BRAT…
One of my girl friends asked me about BRATS tonight, she has seen my posts. She asked me what it takes to be a BRAT since her father also served in the Navy before she was born. That got me thinking. I did reply to her it depends on what is in her heart. Does she feel connected with millions of others due to her upbringing or because he did his 4 years? She did not honestly have an answer, she must search her heart. Now I know that her father’s duty time did affect her household and her upbringing. Both positively and negatively. The answer lies within her own heart; I cannot answer that question for her.
So what is a BRAT, there are many definitions. Historically it means British Regiment Attached Personnel. So many other organizations, worldwide, have adopted this as a way to identify dependents of active duty military personnel. What does it mean to me? It can be complicated…
It means to me that I supported my parents (all 4 were active duty AF for 20+ years). I saw history being made; I also saw history being rewritten. I have run the moors in England and saw the historic churches and castles in all of Europe. (Think we still have a parking ticket in Barcelona) I have seen the battlefields, I have seen the headstones.
I have also seen the quietness of the military dependents when the SP/MP’s come into the schools. I have seen the one stripers gallantly trying to calm a bus load of school children. I have seen the protesters; I have seen the smoke of the bombs that took our military lives and those of their children. And you bet your bum that I know the words to the national anthem.
I have also seen the kindness of others. I have learned to make Yako-Makdu from a grandmother. I have learned how to make Cuban food in a heartfelt kitchen. Don’t get me started on real eggrolls…or refried beans…I have also learned that you can’t use American bread flour to make broten.
I grew up in a time before color, race or even religion. I grew up as a military dependent. We did not see color, we were one. I grew up tolerant of other’s religion. I knew if I went to my girlfriends Linda’s house, they were vegetarian. I also knew if I went to Kathy’s house I was in for a treat of southern buttermilk fried chicken. I grew up answering the phone as ‘so and so’s residence whom may I say is calling.’
I grew up in a magical time. I have blessed by the Pope in Vatican Square, I have also painted park benches in Lakenheath. (sorry Dad). I have flown with my brother stateside to Germany in the 80’s, unaccompanied. I saw the hostages come home. I remember when the young man had to ditch his plane in the Queen Mum’s horse pasture. I also remember the kind ladies in Germany at the base library that would let me go over the 20 book limit. I grew up with the hastily packed bags and the cryptic phone calls because it was ‘classified’. I never worried because my parents were protecting our rights and freedoms.
It wasn’t all sugar plum and lollipops either. There were some dark times. There were classmates that went stateside suddenly. There were the phone calls late at night. There were the things we don’t mention. And there were also a lot of gentlemen around the table I didn’t know around the holidays.
So I tried to register on Military Brats online, it got confusing. I can’t remember which base we were at when. I sent an email to all 4 of my parents and received 4 different lists. It gets muddled. I can only give people approximations of where I lived when.
It is hard to answer the question of where you are from. I currently live in North Dakota and have for the past 20 years on and off. Does that make me from North Dakota when I was born at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma? I don’t know, but the BBQ is lacking in North Dakota. They do have an awesome casserole with tater tots in it. They call it a hotdish, and all slathered with cheese.
So what makes a BRAT? I don’t have a definitive answer. Is it our ability to adapt and blend into any given situation? Is it our ability to persevere against all obstacles? Or is it our ability to be tolerant of all others? Is it our ability to reach out to our other brethren of BRATS and feel that camaraderie that we don’t feel with civilians? Is it our ability to strike up a conversation with anyone and any given time in a multitude of languages and feel complete?
Most of us call home to wherever we lived the longest. This home is not what is in our hearts. We have the ability and fortitude to move cross country or globally at the drop of a hat and feel comfortable doing that. We just now do it without the glorious stickers on all our furniture.
We are adaptable, strong, and patriotic. I hope that our movement, now that we are finally united, can cross the barriers with our youngest brethren and give them hope and understanding that they are not alone. We stand behind them. No amount of edu-tainment or whatnot bubble wrapping is going to help our littlest BRATS. Only we can assist them. We have gone before them, there are new programs and such, but much more work is needed. And they sure as foxtrot are not heroes.
We have united finally and want to be heard. What is our message? Do we just want our recognition, or do we want to do some good for those that follow in our footsteps?
We have been derelict in proclaiming our heritage. We have sat in the shadows for too long. Do we want to address the multitude of issues that coincide with military duty, the high rates of divorce, the alcoholism, the domestic violence, the mental fatigue? What is going to be our message?
If we are paving a new pathway for our brethren, we need a united front and message. They need us. We are the only ones that can truly understand. We cannot send them out to civilian life unprepared and left on their own. They deserve more than that. They earned it. We earned it.
Kind Regards,
Suzz
BRAT since 1970
One of my girl friends asked me about BRATS tonight, she has seen my posts. She asked me what it takes to be a BRAT since her father also served in the Navy before she was born. That got me thinking. I did reply to her it depends on what is in her heart. Does she feel connected with millions of others due to her upbringing or because he did his 4 years? She did not honestly have an answer, she must search her heart. Now I know that her father’s duty time did affect her household and her upbringing. Both positively and negatively. The answer lies within her own heart; I cannot answer that question for her.
So what is a BRAT, there are many definitions. Historically it means British Regiment Attached Personnel. So many other organizations, worldwide, have adopted this as a way to identify dependents of active duty military personnel. What does it mean to me? It can be complicated…
It means to me that I supported my parents (all 4 were active duty AF for 20+ years). I saw history being made; I also saw history being rewritten. I have run the moors in England and saw the historic churches and castles in all of Europe. (Think we still have a parking ticket in Barcelona) I have seen the battlefields, I have seen the headstones.
I have also seen the quietness of the military dependents when the SP/MP’s come into the schools. I have seen the one stripers gallantly trying to calm a bus load of school children. I have seen the protesters; I have seen the smoke of the bombs that took our military lives and those of their children. And you bet your bum that I know the words to the national anthem.
I have also seen the kindness of others. I have learned to make Yako-Makdu from a grandmother. I have learned how to make Cuban food in a heartfelt kitchen. Don’t get me started on real eggrolls…or refried beans…I have also learned that you can’t use American bread flour to make broten.
I grew up in a time before color, race or even religion. I grew up as a military dependent. We did not see color, we were one. I grew up tolerant of other’s religion. I knew if I went to my girlfriends Linda’s house, they were vegetarian. I also knew if I went to Kathy’s house I was in for a treat of southern buttermilk fried chicken. I grew up answering the phone as ‘so and so’s residence whom may I say is calling.’
I grew up in a magical time. I have blessed by the Pope in Vatican Square, I have also painted park benches in Lakenheath. (sorry Dad). I have flown with my brother stateside to Germany in the 80’s, unaccompanied. I saw the hostages come home. I remember when the young man had to ditch his plane in the Queen Mum’s horse pasture. I also remember the kind ladies in Germany at the base library that would let me go over the 20 book limit. I grew up with the hastily packed bags and the cryptic phone calls because it was ‘classified’. I never worried because my parents were protecting our rights and freedoms.
It wasn’t all sugar plum and lollipops either. There were some dark times. There were classmates that went stateside suddenly. There were the phone calls late at night. There were the things we don’t mention. And there were also a lot of gentlemen around the table I didn’t know around the holidays.
So I tried to register on Military Brats online, it got confusing. I can’t remember which base we were at when. I sent an email to all 4 of my parents and received 4 different lists. It gets muddled. I can only give people approximations of where I lived when.
It is hard to answer the question of where you are from. I currently live in North Dakota and have for the past 20 years on and off. Does that make me from North Dakota when I was born at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma? I don’t know, but the BBQ is lacking in North Dakota. They do have an awesome casserole with tater tots in it. They call it a hotdish, and all slathered with cheese.
So what makes a BRAT? I don’t have a definitive answer. Is it our ability to adapt and blend into any given situation? Is it our ability to persevere against all obstacles? Or is it our ability to be tolerant of all others? Is it our ability to reach out to our other brethren of BRATS and feel that camaraderie that we don’t feel with civilians? Is it our ability to strike up a conversation with anyone and any given time in a multitude of languages and feel complete?
Most of us call home to wherever we lived the longest. This home is not what is in our hearts. We have the ability and fortitude to move cross country or globally at the drop of a hat and feel comfortable doing that. We just now do it without the glorious stickers on all our furniture.
We are adaptable, strong, and patriotic. I hope that our movement, now that we are finally united, can cross the barriers with our youngest brethren and give them hope and understanding that they are not alone. We stand behind them. No amount of edu-tainment or whatnot bubble wrapping is going to help our littlest BRATS. Only we can assist them. We have gone before them, there are new programs and such, but much more work is needed. And they sure as foxtrot are not heroes.
We have united finally and want to be heard. What is our message? Do we just want our recognition, or do we want to do some good for those that follow in our footsteps?
We have been derelict in proclaiming our heritage. We have sat in the shadows for too long. Do we want to address the multitude of issues that coincide with military duty, the high rates of divorce, the alcoholism, the domestic violence, the mental fatigue? What is going to be our message?
If we are paving a new pathway for our brethren, we need a united front and message. They need us. We are the only ones that can truly understand. We cannot send them out to civilian life unprepared and left on their own. They deserve more than that. They earned it. We earned it.
Kind Regards,
Suzz
BRAT since 1970
There is a Hurricane Katrina sized shitstorm brewing among present and former military dependent groups on Facebook and elsewhere and it centers on the name we go by: Military Brats, Air Force Brats, Army Brats, Navy Brats or just plain Brats. I’m not sure when the children of serving military started being called Brats — but it’s been a tradition for well over a hundred years. There’s a story floating around that it’s a 300 year old acronym for British Regiment Attached Travelers. I don’t believe that for the minute it would take a self-respecting Brat to drop down and give you ten. First of all, acronyms are a fairly recent thing and, secondly, the acronym sounds just too forced. I’m 100% sure the term Brat means just what you think it does — in the traditional definition of a child, but inferring an urchin, perhaps one traveling along in a pack with other children and their parents. Sort of like a passel of gypsy kids. Very apropos. I don’t even mind that the generic term has come to mean a somewhat unruly child or a scamp. Growing up as an Army Brat, I always felt that we Brats were a little cocky. It’s an attitude you get when you learn, from a very early age, that you can be picked up from one place, dropped several hundred or thousand miles away and, within days, get the full lay of the land, get acclimated and keep on keepin’ on. Yeah, there’s a little bit of a Brat superiority attitude toward our more landlocked Civilian counterparts. Hometown? We don’t need no steenkin’ hometown. The world is our hometown.
But now, along comes Debbie Fink who, with no personal experience in or with the Military, has coauthored a book with her daughter that she hopes will rebrand us as CHAMPs or Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel. I’ll get to that name later. But from perusing Debbie Fink’s Facebook page,it seems her premise is that we Brats have been suffering under depressed self-esteem and other psychological problems as a direct result of being referred to by a name she sees as derogatory. If only, if only, we were called something more “positive”, we would straighten up and fly right. What is immediately obvious is that this self-style “Edu-tainer” has found a way to cash in on a children’s book and a series of songs, work books and presentations. She’s targeted a large, easy to find audience — military kids — and expanded that potential audience by claiming that her materials are also for Civilian kids to educate them as to what we Military kids are all about — and presumably how best to help us. So far, they’ve been wildly successful. Team Fink has convinced sponsors including the USO, the Red Cross, and USAA (all of whom should know better) to bankroll a tour around Europe’s DoD schools where she can sing to, perform for and edu-tain all those poor little Brats who will blossom once they learn they are really CHAMPs.
Here’s the issue. Brat is not some derogatory term forced on us by others a la Native Americans being called Redskins — a term they see as pejorative and which they would never use and have never used to refer to themselves. Brat is a term that comes out of the Military and which we have always used to identify ourselves. Proudly! When someone asks about my background, I never say, “My dad was in the Military”. I say, “I was an Army Brat”. In fact, often I don’t use the past tense. Because if you were born into a Military family, being a Brat is your birthright. Once a Brat, always a Brat. It’s tribal. If I mention that I’m an Army Brat and someone else says “I was a Navy Brat!”, nothing else needs explaining. With that one word, you know so much about each other’s background that you can start from a place of Instant Best Friend. Or at least from a bond similar to Masonic Brotherhood. I dare you to find any organization or Facebook group for or about present or former Military dependents that doesn’t have the word Brat in the title. And Brat is always capitalized. Sometimes it’s in all caps as BRATS. I would suggest we add exclamation points.
Brats will tell you “We served, too!” But we would never call ourselves heroes.
Now if all Team Fink were trying to do was rebrand us with a stupid acronym, we’d just laugh. I would posit that long after the Finks have returned from their expense account trip, we’ll still be calling ourselves Brats. What really rubs us the wrong way is that the particular name she has chosen flies in the face of everything that the Military and Military families are all about. And it is downright insulting to have anyone — let alone a woman with ABSOLUTELY NO AFFILIATION OR CONNECTION WITH THE MILITARY — choose this particular term for our forced rebranding.
Portrait of the author as a young Brat in Alaska.
The term “hero” has always been overused by the Civilian world — and that’s increased ten-fold since 9/11. Now everyone from the fireman who saves a child’s kitty to someone who ties yellow ribbons around a tree is called “a hero”. I’ll tell you the one community where you will seldom IF EVER hear the term hero, especially not when referencing oneself: the Military. For my father, a decorated combat engineer and veteran of two wars, the most excruciating moments were always when he was in full dress uniform and some Civilian walked up and asked him what he got each medal for. His standard answer: “Just for doing my job.” I’ve attended a number of my father’s West Point reunions and talked to dozens of genuine heroes — if you define heroes as guys who stormed Normandy Beach, liberated concentration camps, served with honor in the thick of the bloodiest fighting in Korea, and lost limbs saving their comrades in Viet Nam. Most are uncomfortable talking about their exploits — many of which have been made into movies starring A-List actors. The most common remarks I would hear: “I’m not a hero, but I served with heroes” and “I had the privilege of serving with valiant men.” Because the code of the Military is that for every guy who takes out the nest of snipers or lands first on the beachhead, there is a vast team of comrades whose service and teamwork allowed that act of heroism to take place. That sort of team mentality and the sense that we were part of a greater whole was instilled in us Brats. The family unit was seen as integral to the military career. I know I’m not the first Brat who was told, “Remember, your behavior reflects on your father’s rank and the reputation of the Army. Be worthy of it.” Some of us embraced that challenge, some of us rebelled against it. But I think all of us understood that the expectation was there. The Military is filled with teams and few, if any people, who call themselves heroes.
Can you imagine then the horror of Brats — who know the measure of a hero and how sparingly that term is used — to be told that they are Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel? As if we were on some sort of PC, self-esteem improving volleyball team where everyone gets a trophy just for showing up. Many of us have parents who were legitimate heroes. I’m sure all of us know a hero whose act of heroism meant they didn’t return to their family. We are not heroes just by virtue of being born to a military parent and we recoil at the notion that someone — especially someone not from our community — would decide they could stick that label on us. When you throw the term “hero” around indiscriminately, you cheapen its meaning for those who really earned it, often with their lives and blood. That’s why one of the anti-Little CHAMPs groups on Facebook is called: Stolen Valor, Stolen Identity. Team Fink is effectively trying to erase a self-identification of which we are inordinately proud and steal the valor of our parents and others from our community. The fact that the USO, the Red Cross and USAA are bankrolling this is especially egregious.
Ugh. Even the cover art screams out “overly PC crap”.
Which is not to say that I don’t commend the desire to help military dependents. When I was growing up, it seemed there were many support groups for military families from free daycare, to teen clubs and activities, to welcoming committees and the sponsoring families program at every new posting. Perhaps there should have been more. Again, I’m not the only Brat who remembers being assigned the kids of a newly posted family and told my job was to make sure they settled in and made friends. And that wasn’t just a suggestion. It was a duty you were expected to perform — and usually did willingly as it wouldn’t be too long before you’d be the new kid and want someone to show you the ropes. I understand that there have been cutbacks since my day. The single shocking fact that a large segment of the families of our enlisted personnel rely on food stamps and other benefits is signal enough that we need more support for our troops and their families.
I would have been tempted to call this man a hero. Dad would have been furious to be so labeled.
But a bogus “esteem building” edutainment program aimed at a PC rebranding of our tribe? Ridiculous! There’s nothing wrong with our self-esteem. Remember those self-effacing heroes I talked about earlier? The only thing I remember them bragging about were the boasts of those who were also Brats. I stood around with some 80 year old WWII paratroopers who were still playing the old Brat game of comparing how many schools and far-flung postings they’d gone through before they turned 18. The Brat with the most won the bragging rights.
So, if you are a Brat, if you know Brats or you want to support a Brat, stop this stupid woman before she spreads her blather any further or grabs another penny of USO or Red Cross money that should be going toward really helping Military personnel and their families.
The BRATS: Stolen Valor/Stolen Identity Facebook group is coordinating efforts to protest this woman’s money grabbing junkets. They have links to a number of Change.org and other petitions you can sign on-line.
Or write to the USO, Red Cross and USAA asking them to drop their support for her. (The Stolen Valor group has a lot of emails for these people.)
If you want to be a bit of a troll, you can post a one star review for Debbie Fink’s Little Champs book on Amazon.
Remember, show your anger, but be civil. We are representing Brats and Military families.
Which is why I won’t ask why a woman who goes around with the name Fink thinks we Brats are the ones who need rebranding.
Note: Top image of kids playing Army by Mojo from the site, Emotive Storytelling.
Our nation’s Military and Military families are facing serious issues: parents who are still deployed, parents struggling with PTSD and horrific physical injuries, not to mention the shocking fact that up to 25% of the nation’s total active duty and reserve personnel rely on food stamps and food pantries to put dinner on their tables. There are many kind-hearted people who want to help with their donations. Unfortunately, there are many opportunists who see the plight of Military families and our vets as a golden chance to don a bright shining halo and line their pockets with a good chunk of those well-meaning contributions. I’m going to tell you about just such a scam — which has been aided, abetted and bankrolled by The USO, The Red Cross, the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC), United Through Reading, USAA, Operation Homefront and others who were either duped, willing participants or failed to practice due diligence as to where they were spending your donations.
I speak of Operation C.H.A.M.P.s run by Debbie Fink and the Fink family and acting as a conduit to funnel donations into their for profit publishing company Harmony Hearth L.L.C.
With all of the aforementioned and often life-threatening problems facing Military families, what do you think Operation C.H.A.M.P.s and Team Fink have decided is the most important issue to tackle? It’s the fact that the time-honored term Military Brat, which the children of American, Canadian and British Military personnel have worn with pride for over 100 years, is damaging to our little psyches. Her whole campaign centers on changing that name to C.H.A.M.P.s or Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel — a name change, as I outlined here, that is offensive and soundly rejected by the Brat community. Currently, Team Fink is on an all-expense paid junket across Europe, bankrolled by the USO, to “edu-tain” kids at Military bases about how they are now C.H.A.M.P.s. Actually, the goals of Operation CHAMPs are very fuzzy and ever changing depending on which of their many websites you land on. Besides raising Military kids’ self-esteem, they claim to be focussed on helping Civilians understand what Military kids go through. Although where Debbie Fink is going to find Civilians on the bases of Europe is questionable. Perhaps she’s doing that outreach at the various Five Star hotels and expensive restaurants and galas that the USO is helpfully underwriting for her and her team. Another stated goal is to “make CHAMPs feel as American as any other kids” (see this Fox News interview on YouTube.) Excuse me! I would posit that no one feels MORE American than Military kids. Spend one day on a base and you see, promptly at five o’clock when Retreat plays, every kid stops in his tracks, puts his hand over his heart and remains silent until the National Anthem finishes. But back to the money grab. Once the Finks are Stateside, they have some Traveling Classroom CHAMPs Kits to sell your school (at $399 a pop). They’d like you to raise donations to pay for these kits so you can buy them from that old for-profit family publishing company, Harmony Hearth.
The USO put Debbie Fink and Operation CHAMPs entourage up for ten days in a hotel which lists its room rates at $375 to over $400 per night. That’s your donations at work, folks!
If you don’t care about the insult of changing the time-honored term Brat to CHAMP, even if you aren’t affiliated with the Military, you should care very very deeply about this scam. Donations are so hard to come by and there are few causes as worthy at helping the families of our serving Military. To allow this much money to be siphoned off into the pockets of a family that has no family connections to the Military, has never lived the life and is shockingly tone-deaf to the community’s values, traditions, ethos and concerns should make your blood boil. In one horrible example, I’ll show you how out of touch Team Fink is with the Military. Debbie Fink somehow got herself invited to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. She engineered getting a copy of her book, The Little CHAMPS, affixed to the center of the wreath, then used the picture as promotional material on her various sites. The fact that she thinks this hallowed ground is fair game for her hucksterism and product boosting is beyond reprehensible. It’s akin to scrawling a smiley face on the coffin of a dead soldier. I choose to hope that Arlington was unaware of this desecration — they can’t review every wreath that is laid. But I wrote to them nonetheless to register my protest. I suggest you do too at this link. Be sure to use the pull-down menu to address it to Public Affairs.
“But”, you say, “Team Fink is putting a smile on Military children’s faces with their programs, songs and books. Surely there is a value in that?” Well, let’s look at the questionable value of the program. First of all, from its esteem-building programs, outreach, and “entertainment”, this program offers absolutely nothing that will meaningfully impact the lives of Military children. In fact, there are numerous long-standing programs, created and run by Brats for Brats, that have long been uniting Military kids and bringing their story to Civilians. For just one of them, I’ll point to Brats without Borders which is run by the producer of the award-winning documentary,Brats: Our Journey Home, which features Brats — including Norman Schwartzkopf and Kris Kristofferson, telling their stories. It’s worth noting that as the producer sought donations to facilitate screenings of this excellent film in town hall settings, USAA and MCEC gave not one thin dime. Yet they bankroll Operation Champs. I should also note that Debbie Fink made the rounds of interviewing several directors of these Brat run initiatives; read the scholarly definitive book on Brat life, Mary Wertch’s Brats: Legacies of Life Inside the Fortress; then cribbed their programs and research, slathered them with a thick layer of psychobabble and Political Correctness, and regurgitated it into this appallingly trite and poorly written book and “edu-tainment” program. To get a taste of it, you might check this information sheet. If you want to read the full thing, as I did, seek it out at a library. Please do not buy it.
This shameless huckster used a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to plug her product! There can be no greater example of how out of touch and disrespectful Team Fink is of our culture, heritage, ethos and values.
To give you another idea how out of step this woman is with the Brat life, part of her “edu-tainment” program includes songs such as “Goodbye is Not Forever, Goodbye is Not the End”. One of the empowering but sobering things about Brat life was that it gave us a heaping dose of reality at a very early age. When I was a Brat during the height of the Viet Nam War, all of us Brats knew that goodbyes very often WERE forever. We all knew of fathers, brothers and other relatives and relatives of friends who said goodbye and it was forever! Brats live in a world where we know in our bones the high cost and risk of the job our parents do. To try to tell us that our parents deployment is just a temporary separation is insulting and false.
So where do we go from here? Well, thousands of us Brats are gathered on Facebook to coordinate efforts to bring our disgust with this money grab to the media, to sponsors and others. We will not stop until we achieve these goals:
1. Force Team Fink’s sponsors to give us a full accounting of the exact dollar amount they have expended on Operation CHAMPs. This accounting of expenditure must include the luxury hotels, airfare, galas, meals and other costs of Team Fink’s junkets in Korea and Europe. So far we’ve been palmed off with generic statements from PR flacks.
2. Demand that Debbie Fink and Harmony Hearth make public exactly how many book and CHAMPkit sales have been funneled through their for profit company.
3. Demand that all Operation CHAMPs sponsors refocus their donations and sponsorship to existing Brat-run initiatives and programs that have the full support of the Brat community and are legitimately operating as non-profits. This includes but is not limited to Brats without Borders, BratPin,Operation Footlocker. All books and films for purchase, showing and donation should be chosen from among the many many written by Brats. A good selection of them can be found here.
4. Ensure that, once a full accounting of the moneys wasted on Operation CHAMPs is made public, a donation in equal dollar amounts is made by each sponsor to legitimate Brat-run non-profits or vetted programs that are guaranteed to impact and improve the lives of Military families.
5. Make sure that groups who claim to support Military families — especially those who bankrolled Operation CHAMPs — open their donation and sponsorship decision-making to the light of day and the Brat community to ensure that due diligence is performed on all programs. We want to make sure that no subsequent donations are squandered on future Team CHAMPs style boondoggles!
Here are Team Fink and Operation CHAMPs listed sponsors. They all have emails, addresses and directors. Write to them. Demand an accounting! When they palm you off with PR bullshit, demand again.
Brats, I know I can count on you to keep the pressure on.
My Civilian friends — everyone loves to shout “We support our troops”. Here is your chance to really, really do that. Please click on the links I’ve posted above. Email, contact and mail your Congressional representatives and all the listed sponsors of Operation CHAMPs. If you can help us ensure that hard won donations actually find their way to programs that can offer true aid to our Military families, you will be taking an important stand in paying back the debt we owe those who serve.
Feel free to reference this post. Feel free to cut and paste whole paragraphs out of it into your letters. Just get the word out and stop the money grab on the backs of our veterans and their families.
NOTE: The Dandelion at the top of this post is the official flower of the Brat Community. We are blown here and there, but we always take root and thrive.
NOTE: The image of the Military family at the top of this post comes fromThe Heckscher Foundation for Children which has no affiliation or endorsement of any of the groups or sentiments expressed in this post.
BRATS NOT CHAMPS
RAISING AWARENESS OF THE MOVEMENT OPPOSING THE USE OF
C.H.A.M.P.S. – CHILD HEROES ATTACHED TO MILITARY PERSONNEL – AS A SUBSTITUTE
FOR THE TRADITIONAL-RICH BRAT LABEL EMBRACED BY MANY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
Money,
Power and other Pretty Things
2
In the absence of any real
communication from the CEO Operation Champs and first author of The Little
Champs (the ‘handling’ press release does not count as real communication), the
movement against the rebranding attempt has entered a new phase.
Questions are being raised about the nature of the relationship between
the Champs founders and the USO. There are vital questions which must be
answered concerning the relationship between this tour/book contract and the
use of public funds. This posting will attempt to discuss some of those
questions and their importance.
Several Brats have raised the
issue of profit. While Operation Champs is a non-profit organization providing
services to military families, the book and its publisher are for-profit endeavors.
In addition, the tour itself has monetary value. Plane tickets and
hotel stays cost money, and these appear to have been paid for using monies
gained through donations and grants. While there is nothing wrong with
making money while doing good, legitimate questions can be raised about the
nature of the contract between the Finks and the USO.
I see the Finks as being engaged
in a capitalist enterprise based upon providing what they see as a product that
will help people. They have published a book, and convinced the USO to
fund the tour. The USO is not a government agency, but funds its activities
through a combination of private and corporate donations and grants. The
USO financial report is located here:
http://www.uso.org/uploadedFiles/Home/About_Us/The_Organization/Financial_Statements/USO-2013-Financials-Long-Form.pdf
for those who would like to read through it.
Most likely, the USO agreed to the tour based on a prior
relationship with Debbie Fink and the Thanksgiving project. The real
question is why the USO selected this particular project to support.
Brat-based alternative projects, like Michelle Ferguson-Cohen’s Books for
Brats (http://www.booksforbrats.com/about) have
not, to the best of my knowledge, been approached by the USO for a tour.
The USO should answer the following questions:
1. On what basis was the decision
made to support the Champs book and tour?
2. Was there an open call
for bids before making this decision? If so, which projects were rejected and
upon what basis?
3. Who signed the contract
with Champs and do they have a personal relationship to the authors?
4. Precisely what is the financial
nature of this contract?
In the second paragraph, I stated
that there is nothing inherently wrong with making a profit out of doing
something positive. This is true. Virtue must be rewarded and I do
not blame the Finks for trying to come to a financially rewarding agreement
with the USO. While I am not a fan of unfettered capitalism, I understand that
the makers of crutches, of medicines, of airlift helicopters and, yes, even
authors should be paid for their services. In my mind, it is the USO’s decision
to support the book/tour which must be questioned. Surely many people approach
the USO with suggestions for tours. The real question is why they decided
to support this particular endeavor and not others. Someone made a
decision. Who? And why?
Questions also need to be raised
concerning the book purchases. Books are being provided free of charge to
young brats. The following questions should be answered:
1. Who purchased the books?
The USO? The DOD schools?
2. If public funds were used to
purchase the books, was there an open bidding process?
3. Who made the decision to
purchase the books and upon what basis?
It is important to focus upon
those who have provided financial support to this endeavor as well as to
articulate Brat objections to the CHAMPS name. Children’s books are
published and vanish from public consciousness every day. In this case,
valuable contracts have been written promoting a book with what many Brats see
as objectionable content. Without the contracts, the book would simply
have been one of many controversial books and the discussion would have a very
different character. It is precisely the relationship between a
for-profit publisher, a small non-profit charity and the large private
foundations like the USO which bears investigation.
https://bratsnotchamps.wordpress.com/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog
By Lonely Pilot Bob
“Yorking”
‘em…
I have
always held an interest in military history. One of the stories I heard
as a kid was that of Sgt. Alvin C. York from WW I. In one engagement, on
October 8, 1918 Sgt. York and his platoon were sent after a German machine gun
nest in the Argonne Forest. Once they were in place a group of German
soldiers appeared to surrender. Then they signaled another group of
Germans to open fire on the unsuspecting Americans. Most of the Americans
were killed.
Sgt.
York then took his Enfield rifle and first picked off the German machine
gunners. Then he calmly began shooting the remaining German soldiers –
from the back of the line so they wouldn’t scatter – a turkey-hunting technique
he learned back in Tennessee. As the advancing Germans discovered
there were only 2 or 3 of them left when they got close to the Americans, they
surrendered. For this action Sgt. Alvin C. York was awarded
the Medal of Honor.
As we, ‘we’ being a ‘small band of adult military brats,’ began
digging deeper, we began to find a great deal more. And we began
forwarding our discoveries to their sponsors and endorsers. And soon they
began withdrawing their endorsements and support from “The Little C.H.A.M.P.S.”
One of the first ones to drop was
the MCEC, the Military Child Education Coalition.
“YORK”
Then “inquiries” were
made to the various service Trademark offices – to see if “The Little
C.H.A.M.P.S.” organization had permission to use their respective service
seals. The service seals are trademarked. These are their replies
(to date:)
1. Sir,
Thank you for your help in this matter. Since the website was using all the Services’ Seals, I have requested the assistance of the OSD Branding and Trademarks Office to have the seals removed, barring an unknown relationship that the Services have entered into with the company — which I don’t expect to be the case.
Thank you for your help in this matter. Since the website was using all the Services’ Seals, I have requested the assistance of the OSD Branding and Trademarks Office to have the seals removed, barring an unknown relationship that the Services have entered into with the company — which I don’t expect to be the case.
We appreciate your
efforts to protect the Air Force identity. Please continue forwarding potential
infringement cases to us as you see them.
Respectfully,
Ms. Rowden
Air Force Public Affairs Agency
Chief, USAF Trademark & Licensing
Ms. Rowden
Air Force Public Affairs Agency
Chief, USAF Trademark & Licensing
“YORK”
2. Good afternoon
Mr. Holliker,
Thank you for your
inquiry regarding the U.S. Coast Guard’s official seal.
Neither commercial nor
non-profit entities may use the Coast Guard’s official seal for merchandising,
promotional and/or advertising purposes. Further, the seal may not be used to
create the appearance of an implied endorsement for an organization.
As your query involves each of the services, this matter has been addressed within the DOD Trademark group for disposition.
Please contact me directly should you have additional questions or concerns.
As your query involves each of the services, this matter has been addressed within the DOD Trademark group for disposition.
Please contact me directly should you have additional questions or concerns.
Best regards.
TM
“YORK”
3. Classification:
UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Caveats: NONE
Thank you Mr. Holliker,
I have turned this over to DoD for action.
Best regards,
Paul Jensen
Director, Army Trademark Licensing Program
Director, Army Trademark Licensing Program
“YORK”
And it’s kind of fun quite candidly, to watch their endorsement
pages as we continue to
YORK them:
“YORK, YORK”
Our efforts are
continuing, and like those poor unfortunate German soldiers, it won’t be long
before the USO, the Red Cross and USAA discover they are out front, all
alone. Then I suspect they will surrender…
And now you know as much
about “Yorking” as I do…
Administrators Contact Information
Marc
Curtis
The
Military Brats Registry was created and is maintained by Marc Curtis from
his own need to locate long lost friends from Ft. Bliss, Texas in 1960-61. He knew that others must be seeking their
Military Brat friends too, so the Military Brats Registry was developed in 1997
to help
1-909-557-5550
Richard
Atkinson
Proud Military BRAT and
Veteran
Debbie
Godwin Adams
Proud Military BRAT
Pastor
Brian Cook
Proud Military BRAT
Bob
Holliker
The Brat Pin
The Brat Pin site seeks to honor Military Brats
with a BratPin – a simple, elegant, pin symbolizing the lives we Military Brats
lived and are living …
Terrill
Ann Zimmerman Major
Proud Navy BRAT
Donna
Musil
Brats Without Borders, Executive Director, 501(c)(3)non-profit
Our mission is to provide educational
materials, outreach, and support to military-connected “brats” and other “third
culture kids” of all ages.
BRATS Our Journey Home, Writer,
Director, Filmmaker
BRATS is the seven-year work of passion of independent
filmmaker Donna Musil. It’s the first
film Donna has directed and produced. It
has won numerous awards and been screened in over a hundred locations around
the country, including almost two dozen film festivals. The film was featured on CNN’s “This Week at
War” and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and has been broadcast on Armed Forces
Network Television in 178 countries around the world. Donna currently serves as the Executive
Director of Brats Without Borders, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational
organization which produced the film, and continues to conduct research and
develop programs which raise the awareness of military “brats” and other “third
culture kids” and improve the quality of their lives..
BRATS Without Borders
P.O.Box
9186
Denver,
CO
1-855-USA-BRAT
(toll-free)
Kristi
West
Proud Military BRAT
Linda
Winnicki
Proud Military BRAT
|
Books by BRATS for BRATS
|
