Jaxson Jordan’s extraordinary journey of service to others began at the lunch table in elementary school. When he noticed one of his friends didn’t have anything to eat, Jaxson started bringing extra food in his lunchbox to share.
“He told me they didn’t have a lot of food at home, and that made me sad,” said Jaxson, 14, now a high school freshman in North Carolina. “So I got with my mom and the principal, and we started collecting food. I wanted to start doing more. I went to soup kitchens and homeless shelters. I enjoy helping people. It sparked form that one kid, realizing I could help him.”
Jaxson’s giving heart was recognized in 2019, when Operation Homefront named him Military Child of the Year for the Marine Corps. Jaxson’s generosity is even more remarkable considering the personal challenges he's faced along the way: he’s partially blind, dyslexic, has mobility issues, and lives with overlapping autoimmune diseases.
He’s had incredible support from his family, including mom ReBecca at their home near Camp Lejeune, and dad Chris, a Marine Corps master gunnery sergeant stationed in Okinawa. Dad got to come home from deployment to surprise Jaxson after he was named an award winner.
Jaxson had no idea a family friend had nominated him for Military Child of the Year, and he doesn’t like to talk about it, because that feels like bragging to him, according to his mom.
Remarkably, Jaxson’s older brother also won this award. Michael-Logan Burke Jordan, now 21, was the 2014 Military Child of the Year recipient for the Marine Corps. Like his brother, Michael also has health problems, including juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
“All of my kids have a heart for service,” said ReBecca Jordan. “We don’t like to use the word disability in our house – you don’t have disabilities, you have health challenges, and challenges are meant to be overcome. Some of their best medicine is being able to go out in the community and feel good about themselves.”
Operation Homefront has served military families since 2002 with assistance in housing, toy drives, back-to-school programs, and more. Their Military Child of the Year award recognizes the positive impact made by military teens from every branch of the service. This year’s finalists will be honored at Operation Homefront’s annual gala on April 2.
Military Child of the Year got started in 2008 as a way to recognize military kids during a time when many of their loved ones were being sent overseas for months at a time, in a deployment that came to be known as “the surge,” according to Margi Kirst, Chief Development Officer at Operation Homefront.
“It’s kind of a unique role for an American child,” Kirst said of military kids. “Our awardees are not only doing the best they can at school, and in other civic engagements, but they might be the head of the household. They may be the oldest of 5 or 6 helping mom out as dad’s deployed. When you’re a military child in America right now you have an added level of responsibility and turmoil. These children deal with more than most of their peers – and excel.”
When Military Child of the Year began, the award was for all military branches. But, because each branch has its own story, Operation Homefront eventually partnered with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to recognize finalists from all military branches and the National Guard. Winning kids get to sit with the head of their military division at the awards gala.
Four years ago they added another category for innovation. The winning military presents a business concept that helps people, and then consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton will help them bring the idea to market. One such awardee invented a prototype time-release medication for peanut allergies, so a person could wear the patch hours ahead of the time you expect to be exposed to peanuts, according to Kirst.
Operation Homefront relies on nominations to find the best and most deserving awardees. A panel of about 40 independent judges from the worlds of military, business, and education select the winning kids.
“Anyone can nominate – sometimes people think, why would I nominate my kid?” Kirst said. “Your typical military child is never typical, and they are doing things, and building resiliency in ways that are amazing. If there’s a military kid you think is a great kid, nominate them, let them go through the process.”
Winners also each get a $10,000 grant, a laptop computer, and an all-expenses-paid trip to visit Washington D.C., where they tour the city, the Pentagon, and the National Zoo.
At the awards gala, each recipient is seated with the head chief of his or her service – for example, the Army child of the year sits next to the Army chiefs of staff with their families. Then, those top military brass get to present the award to the child.
“That is the starry-eyed night,” Kirst said. “One-on-one, that’s what’s amazing for these kids and their families, they consider that a great honor. And we’re so grateful to these chiefs for doing that, spending a night with these families. It shows us the strong commitment from the highest levels of government to these children, and we’re proud to be a conduit for that.”
Mary Kate Cooper was awarded Military Child of the Year in 2017 for the Coast Guard branch. Her father is a search-and-rescue pilot whose job has taken them all over the country, including Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, and Colorado. As a kid, going from place to place, she always enjoyed math and science.
“I always found it was the same no matter where we live, so I always threw myself into those subjects,” she said.
Today, that interest in math and science is paying off. Mary Kate, now 20, is studying aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Stanford. She believes being honored with Military Child of the Year – which she mentioned gets abbreviated in conversation as “mick-coy,” for the award’s initials – helped her land a spot at the prestigious university.
“Growing up as a military brat, the military is a very tight knit family,” she said. “Kids I grew up with were also military kids; I know how amazing they are. So it’s humbling to be selected and represent the Coast Guard branch. It was really neat to celebrate all my friends and family who were also military kids.”
Mary Kate also faces a lifelong physical challenge of her own: she’s a below-the-knee amputee who lost her left leg to congenital illness as a baby. It didn't stop her from being active in sports all her life, including surfing and swimming. “It’s had its hardships, but being an amputee is a lot of who I am. It’s also opened a lot of doors for me,” she said.
She says Operation Homefront “is a really awesome organization,” which offers housing to military families, and conducts school supply drives. “I’m grateful for what they’ve done not just for my family, but my whole military family.”
For Jaxson Jordan, when asked how the award changed his life, his answer was pure and simple: “I got to meet six new friends.”
His mom says Jaxson’s new friend group, comprised of his fellow award finalists, shares an amazing bond and they celebrate each other’s accomplishments
“We have so many amazing military kids out there we’re proud of,” ReBecca Jordan said. “People say this generation is an entitled generation. But I say that they’re an enlightened generation. These children want to give back to their communities, especially with military kids, it’s ingrained in them because they’re being raised by parents who serve.”
This story appeared in the March 2020 edition of At Ease magazine.
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