Some people don’t really think about what it’s like to have a family member in the army — especially what it’s like to be a military child. Freshman Rami LeRoy knows what it’s like.  Her dad Robert was in the U.S. Army for 21 years, finally retiring in 2013.

He was deployed many times, using Skype to stay in touch with his family, but there were many times where they weren’t sure if he was OK.

“It was horrible because I always was scared- scared I wasn’t going to see him again, scared the guys were going to show up at my door and tell us he was gone,” LeRoy said. “I was thankful I could Skype him, but it’s still not the same as him being in person. And he was still in a dangerous place. I was scared, and it’s the worst feeling in the world when you don’t know if you will ever see someone you love again.”

LeRoy said there was a scary moment when they were Skyping, and her dad was about to go to sleep, so they were saying goodnight to him when a bullet came through his window and almost hit him.

“We all got really scared, and my dad hung up on us. He didn’t call us back, so we didn’t know if he was OK,” LeRoy said. “The whole night I was really scared and couldn’t sleep. I thought my dad had died.”With her dad in the Army, they had to move many times. She moved seven times total, though she said she was lucky and mostly moved in her earlier years.

With her dad in the Army, they had to move many times. She moved seven times total, though she said she was lucky and mostly moved in her earlier years.

“The way it usually goes is, I move, I’m quiet, I hate it. Then I grow to love it. When I love it and accept it, I find out I have to move again. It’s like if I end up being happy, I end up having to leave or say goodbye. Having to start over again and again, and I hate it,” LeRoy said.

Usually military families don’t stay stationed somewhere longer than 18 months. LeRoy said moving a lot can be tough, having to make new friends and going to several different schools, and she said it affected her learning skills. In fourth grade, she found out she had ADD and dyslexia, which affects her ability to spell, sound out words and read.

“It’s also really hard to make the sounds of the letters in the alphabet,” she said.

After retiring, LeRoy’s father got a job in Nebraska, which lead her to hope things would be better after they settled, but they weren’t. She said her peers picked on her and called her names.

‘’The school in Nebraska was terrible. The school was way behind in learning and didn’t really help kids that had learning disabilities,” LeRoy said.

So she was thrilled when they moved again in 2014 to Kansas City, and she made many new friends who supported her.

“It’s hard, scary, and you never know if they are OK, but you will get through it. And in the end, you and your family will be together and happy,” LeRoy said. “Your family will sacrifice, but they are heroes who saved us, and that’s something to be proud of.”