'Military Brat' shares life on base

Amanda Miller and her friends walk around the Ridge last one night.

Miller competing in a bungee walk during a tailgate ear

Miller and close friend, Dani Gandolf hug outside Staple's late one night

Miller walking around in a robe during a cold winter night

    “You’re always waiting and wondering if your parents are going to come home,” said Amanda Miller, Sophomore at Ohio University. She is one of the many military “brats” on campus.
  
    Miller’s father served in the military for 20 years. As a marine, he worked his way up from private to gunnery sergeant and was eventually offered a position as an officer. He turned down the offer to retire and spend time with his family.
    Miller had lived, consequentially, on military bases until her Sophomore year of high school.
    “I lived in North Carolina until I was, actually, 12. Which is really odd because that’s 12 years of being stationed in one place...and then I was in California for four years and then I moved to Ohio after my dad retired,” said Miller.
  
    Miller’s grade school days were spent in schools located on the military base.
    “The dress code was a lot [more strict] and things that would happen on base were a lot [more strict],” said Miller.
    Miller spoke of the September 11 attacks on the United States. She was in a classroom when the attack started and because the school was located on a military base, the school was forced to undergo a complete lock-down.
    “Most schools, [parents] came and picked [their] kids up or buses dropped them off, but for us we were under lockdown until about 5 p.m.,” said Miller. “We were in our classroom, under desks, quiet. Camp Lejeune is where I lived in North Carolina and, at the time, it was the second largest military base in the country and there was a lot of worry about wether or not there would be an attack on the base.”
  
     After the 9/11 attacks, Miller’s father was “the first platoon to go out.” According to Miller, this lead to a great amount of distress. She didn’t know what was going to happen but, because it was a military base, all the families stuck together and supported one another.
    “Everyone is very close together because they are all military,” said Miller

    Today, Miller and her family have settled, due to her father’s retirement. Her father is a diesel technician, her mother is a nurse, her brother is going to high school in Medina, and Miller is attending Ohio University majoring in early childhood education.
    “It’s a normal family life now. No worries about parents leaving and not coming home.”