Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are preparing for Veterans Day.
On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell organization shared news that the two “spent the morning with veterans and active-duty service members and their loved ones at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California.”
The couple regularly observe Veterans Day and Remembrance Day (a day of remembrance observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of the First World War in 1919).
During their visit to San Diego, Meghan, 42, and Harry, 39, stopped by Operation Bigs — a first-of-its-kind mentoring program dedicated to children of military families, including active duty, veterans and Gold Star families.
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
Matt Sayles
Those attending ahead of Veterans Day, which falls on Saturday, spoke about how the mentoring offered through Operation Bigs has supported their goals and ambitions, as well as those of the community.
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According to the Archewell website, the program was founded in 2004 and helps connect “young people and families with mentors who can relate to the common experiences and challenges a military parent or parents face when deployed and after they return.”
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Matt Sayles
Since its launch, Operation Bigs has helped more than 3,000 children of Navy and Marine Corps members and has expanded to more than 30 branches across the country.
The Duke of Sussex’s military connections go back decades.
In the same year that Operation Bigs was founded, Prince Harry passed his Regular Commissions Board (RCB), the qualification required for training at Sandhurst, according to the royal family’s website.
His time in the military spanned 10 years, during which he became a captain and completed two tours in Afghanistan.
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“Prince Harry is very proud to be serving his country on operations alongside his fellow soldiers and doing the job he was trained to do,” Clarence House said in February 2008.
In their 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry spoke about his life in the military, saying that decade “gave me a lived experience that other members of my family wouldn’t have.”
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Matt Sayles
“Two tours in Afghanistan, flying Apache helicopters on an army base, means you grow up pretty fast. Jesus, I went to war twice,” he added in the third episode.
In the same episode, he and Meghan visited McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey in honor of Veterans Day 2021.
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“I look at my husband over there – you see how much joy it brings him to be back on base, and he goes right back to the military joke,” Meghan said.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education