USO World Tour Of The Planet

As a Comfort Crew member I have an incredible job. It allows me to travel the world and work with the most amazing kids. I have the pleasure of seeing kids laugh hysterically at our movies, hear their poignant and inspiring stories, and recieve many high fives.

The USO world tour of the planet is an amazing mission around the world to support our military kids who are having a tough time right now.  Because of multiple deployments, this period of war has been hard on families. It has also been very tough on our military. One of the most disturbing statistics is the number of service members taking their own life, a staggering average of 23 per day including veterans.

Today I met a young boy who puts a face to these statistics. He moved to North Carolina from California recently and after my presentation came up to me and tearfully told me he lost his step-dad to suicide a couple of months ago.

This little boy’s eyes were puffy and his cheeks were red and swollen from crying. He was sobbing so hard he could barely get the words out. To add to his pain, he told me his best friend back in California is going through a very rough battle with cancer and he feels he has abandoned his buddy.

He also feels that perhaps he didn’t do enough to stop his step-dad from taking his own life. “My mom and me tried so hard to help him,” he sobbed. “But maybe I could have tried harder.”

The burden on this little boy’s shoulders is clearly overwhelming and heartbreaking. But the strength he had in sharing his story with us and the courage he showed by talking about his step-dad and his friend with cancer, was remarkable and brought tears to my eyes.

This brave and stoic little boy and thousands of military kids just like him is the very reason we do what we do. And this is why it is so important to support this generation of kids with parents who serve. So as you go about your day today, please give thought to the brave men and women who serve this country…and the incredibly brave children who serve too.
-Trevor Romain