They have endured a decade of war. Collectively they have moved across country and back again, thousands of times. They go years without seeing family members. They lose touch with their closest friends just to repeat the cycle again and again. They often are the victims of abuse as the strain of war weighs heavy on their family. They sometimes live in poverty and for thousands, their parents have been killed or broken in combat.

These are not soldiers. These are their children.

Stop reading this right now, and go hug your military child.

Didn’t that feel great? Military children have always been known to endure lives that were busier and more difficult than their civilian counterparts. But in the last decade as war as ravaged on in Iraq and Afghanistan, military children have suffered longer and greater and stepped into household roles that many American children never imagine.

It has made them resilient. It has made them street smart. It has made them better people.

But the experiences of being children of wartime duty have also left many of them broken, exhausted and traumatized.

Every April military bases around the world celebrate the month of the military child. Purple banners are hung. Free dinners are given out. Events with bouncy houses, balloons and free bowling are held to celebrate all that is awesome about being a military kid.

And there is no doubt those events are great fun. The kids enjoy them.

But what they really want most is probably that hug from the people who mean the most to them, their mom and dad.

So when you are done reading this, go hug them again. And do it every day, every hour that you can.

Spend the month of the military child reminding them how thankful you are for their service. Spend every day after doing it over and over again. They have earned it, they deserve it.