The home of U.S. Forces Japan marked the Month of the Military Child this week by unveiling a student-designed morale patch featuring a dandelion and a C-130J airlifter. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – The home of U.S. Forces Japan marked the Month of the Military Child this week by unveiling a student-designed morale patch featuring a dandelion and a C-130J airlifter.
The patch is an amalgam of several designs submitted in a competition among Department of Defense Education Activity students at Yokota. The round patch, which has a purple border to represent all military branches, includes the motto, “Remember who you fight for.”
Student submissions for a Month of the Military Child morale patch are displayed at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)
Joshua Fly, the school liason program manager, and Col. Andrew Roddan, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing, unveil the Month of the Military Child morale patch at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)
Student submissions for a Month of the Military Child morale patch are displayed at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)
Col. Andrew Roddan, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing, speaks about the student designs that inspired a Month of the Military Child moral patch for airman at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)
Student submissions for a Month of the Military Child morale patch are displayed at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)
The dandelion is the official flower of U.S. military children because it can put down roots anywhere, according to Joshua Fly, the school liaison program manager.
“We got over 175 designs or submissions,” he said at Tuesday’s unveiling ceremony. “We narrowed it down to two or three that we liked the best and then borrowed pieces of each to make our final design.”
Base commander Col. Andrew Roddan has authorized airmen at Yokota to wear the morale patch throughout April.
