Growing up as a military child isn’t easy. Read how one military teen turned compassion into volunteer service through a Red Cross summer program and found her calling in medicine.

Hannah Kirksey has moved a lot in her life. By the time she was 12, their father, an active-duty U.S. marine, had moved them six times. She learned at a very early age that when it comes to military families, rarely does one person serve.

“It’s not just the person that is actively in the Marine Corps,” said Hannah, the youngest child to Sgt. William Kirksey, who is now a U.S. Marine Corps infantry veteran. “The entire family serves.”

Hannah’s father served for over 20 years and deployed on 16 occasions to countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Chad, Mauritania and Korea, spending a total of 37 months away from Hannah and 48 in total from the family. His service shaped how Hannah understands relationships and responsibilities.

“It’s working as a child trying to understand what your parent might be going through,” Hannah said. “[Military kids] have to learn very mature themes and very mature things at a very, very young age.”

When her father retired, Hannah and her family faced a new challenge ─ reintegrating her father, a combat veteran who’d seen numerous tours, back into their home, routines and lives. It was challenging for everyone involved. But Hannah said compassion and patience, traits she learned by watching her mother, helped her navigate the situation.

“Just sitting down and having to remind myself he is going through extremely difficult things from his time in combat. And we, for the most part, know why. And just having that as a constant reminder of not getting upset back or not feeling hurt that he’s not in the moment as much,” explained Hannah.

The experience, although difficult, was formative. Hannah, now 18, believes it helped turn her into the person she is today. Someone who attended seven schools, yet still made varsity cheer and swim teams; someone who’s overcome dyslexia to achieve academic success; someone who’s not afraid to step up in their community and lead.  

“You cannot grow without going through growing pains,” she said. “The experiences and the resilience that I have from it is only something I could have gained by being a military child.”

Hannah’s father’s military service inspired Hannah to start volunteering. Last year alone, Hannah contributed over 1,000 volunteer hours to various causes including participating in the American Red Cross VolunTEEN program in North Carolina.

VolunTEEN is a unique service-learning experience for teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17. Every summer, a cohort joins the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces team and helps support local military clinics and hospitals. The students learn valuable hands-on experience in healthcare settings, strengthen leadership and teamwork while making a direct impact on service members and military families.

“I got to see some truly, truly amazing things,” Hannah shared. “That was when I knew ─ I want to be a part of medicine. This is my passion. This is my calling.”

Hannah volunteered at Navy Medical Center Lejeune where she observed the emergency department, labor and delivery, the neonatal intensive care unit and surgical settings. She attributes the experience to being the reason why she plans to study public health and pursue a pre-physician's assistant track in college.

“I’m genuinely so thankful that the American Red Cross provides those opportunities,” she said. “It helped me figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Hannah’s commitment to service to the Red Cross and other organizations led her to being named the 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Military Child of the Year. She hopes her story brings greater awareness to the realities military-connected children face.

“I hope this creates more awareness about military children,” she said. “People don’t really know. And I hope this creates clarity and insight into military lives.”

The Red Cross is proud to support military children like Hannah ─ providing opportunities, opening doors and helping the next generation discover who they’re meant to become. This April during month of the military child, the Red Cross celebrates our outstanding military youth volunteers in the U.S. and living on military bases overseas ─ those who serve both their community and their country.

To learn more about how the Red Cross supports military families or to get involved visit redcross.org/saf.