Hanscom children honored with medal

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Martha Petersante-Gioia
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AFPN) --  Base officials have a new medal in their arsenal to recognize family sacrifices made during the war on terrorism.

The Children's Home Front Hero Medal, which features a replica of the American flag, is for children of deployed servicemembers.

Dawn Andreucci, a community readiness consultant for Hanscom's Family Support Center here, came up with the idea when she was doing online research on the effects of deployment on children. During her research she found a song by Jeff Wade Clark titled "Little Soldier."

"The song illustrates what it is like for a child to have a parent serving in the war," Ms. Andreucci said. "The most poignant line about the child's experience of the separation was that there is no medal to reward the 'little Soldier's' sacrifice."

Ms. Andreucci said she wanted to find an appropriate medal for children and brought it up to the other people on the family readiness team. They all liked the idea.

Ethan Grill, 10, was the first child here to receive the award. He was at a ceremony Feb. 25 to witness his father, Tech. Sgt. Eric Grill of the 66th Air Base Wing, receive a medal he earned in Iraq. After Sergeant Grill received his award, he called Ethan to the front of the room.

"I didn't know why I was being called up front," Ethan said. "I was definitely surprised to receive the award because I've never really gotten an award for doing something that I didn't even know that I was doing. I was also surprised to hear that I was the first kid to get that award. It made me feel good to know that."

The medal ceremony was the perfect place to give out the award, Sergeant Grill said.

"So much emphasis is put on (servicemembers) and what they go through, and I don't want to take away from that. But for me, all I could think about when I was away was the tremendous job my family was doing in my absence," Sergeant Grill said. "The (medal) gives (servicemembers) a special way to say ‘thank you’ to their children for their sacrifices."

"Our military families make sacrifices everyday, (and) many times (those sacrifices) go unnoticed,” said Col. Greg Augst, 66th Air Base Wing vice commander, who was at Sergeant Grill's ceremony. “This medal . . . is a perfect way for servicemembers to showcase the support they receive from their families which allows them to continue their mission. Our families are our backbone."

"It is the love of family and the hopes, dreams and prayers of our children that inspire and help sustain our (servicemembers) as they defend our freedom," Ms. Andreucci said. "Each child deserves a special medal of their own as a token of appreciation as our little heroes on the home front."