The Young Military Child: Our Modern Telemachus

For thousands of years military children have been faced with many challenges that result from the combat deployment of their parents. These challenges are likely to be particularly burdensome to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers because of their emotional and cognitive immaturity, their reliance on magical thinking, and their dependence upon their parents for healthy development. This article outlines the challenges that modern young military children face, focusing on parental combat deployment, parental combat injury, parental postcombat health consequences, and parental death. Readers are reminded of the unique needs of young military children and the culturally informed services that are necessary for them to overcome these challenges.