In honor of Independence Day, Duracell is shining a light on the children of U.S. military service members and the sacrifices they make when their parent is deployed.
Two-time Academy Award-winner, Hilary Swank, shares her support of the program as the daughter of a service member herself; her father is a retired Air Force Senior Master Sergeant.
Since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001, more than 2 million American children have had a deployed parent, according to the “Military Children and Families” report conducted by Princeton University / Brookings (Fall 2013).
Many of them have seen multiple deployments, three, four, or even five family separations. A major issue that children have during a military deployment is the void that opens when they lose their parent’s daily affection and love. A new film from Duracell shows this struggle through the eyes of the ones left behind.
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Duracell was inspired to tell this story when they recently met with one particular military family, the Nilsons. To help their two young daughters cope with his impending deployment, Robert Nilson, a Navy Air Traffic Controller, and his wife, Denise, found a way for Robert to be connected with his children while he was away from home.
On the day of his deployment, he and Denise gave their daughters a battery-powered teddy bear, pre-recorded with a message of love from him to his girls. It was a way for the children to hear their father’s voice when they needed it most. This bear became a symbol of Robert, trusted to always be there for his daughters while he was serving overseas.
In honor of all of the families who hold down the home front, Duracell is working to help power more comforting moments for loved ones through its support of the United Service Organizations (USO), a charity serving military service members and their families.
Duracell is donating $100,000 USD to the USO’s Comfort Crew for Military Kids program which helps military children cope during their parent’s deployment.
