Mother’s Day is a chance for all families to honor their matriarchs. It is also a chance for the nation to tip their hats to the mothers of American military service members.
One military mom was inspired by her son’s service to give back rather than receive.
Brandi Elias, from California, is a mother to Duncan, a member of the U.S. Navy. The proud mother is also Inland Empire Center Operations Supervisor for the Bob Hope USO team in California.
As of May 2020, 20-year-old Duncan is planning imminent deployment on a Navy warship as a Quartermaster Sailor Apprentice (QMSA), and Brandi is preparing herself for the family’s separation.
“It’s totally normal and you’re not crazy,” she further added, for the benefit of military moms everywhere who are raising America’s heroes. “We are in this together.”
Brandi herself comes from a long line of military servicemen. Both her father and stepfather are veterans—of the Army and Marine Corps respectively—whilst both of her grandfathers served in the Army during the Second World War. It had been a lifelong dream of Duncan’s, said Brandi, to follow in his family members’ footsteps.
Brandi joined the Bob Hope USO team as a volunteer when Duncan enlisted in the Navy in August 2018. The mother of two young men soon found solace in the shared experiences of her colleagues at USO.
The military mom, missing her son after he enlisted in the military and departed to boot camp, soon found that taking care of other people’s children at Bob Hope USO was a therapeutic endeavor.
After having the opportunity of providing service to members of the military when they were exhausted and in the most vulnerable times, in January 2020, Brandi made the decision to switch from being a volunteer to being an official Bob Hope USO staff member.
“[S]he, like all military moms, have shaped our nation’s heroes,” they further wrote.
Brandi acknowledged that she may spend future Mother’s Days, holidays, and birthdays without her son, Duncan, and expressed solidarity with other mothers missing their service member children in the same way.