HELENA — Summer camp is a favorite annual tradition for many kids, but there's something that makes Camp Runnamucka different from all the rest here in Montana.
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"It's a lot of fun," said Harper Johnson, a nine-year-old attendee.
All of the kids have one thing in common.
Johnson said, "I just think that it's really cool that all of us have been through the same things, like deployments and [parents] being away for long trainings."
Johnson is one of the attendees of the camp, and her dad is a soldier in the Montana National Guard.
She is one of 140 campers who all have parents or guardians who serve in the military.
"We all we were talking about how sad it is when [our parents] have to go on deployments, and some kids actually have their dads on deployments right now," said Johnson.
The camp is sponsored by the Montana National Guard and organized by the Montana Guard Kids Organization, and it is entirely free for participants, with all staff being volunteers.
The president of Montana Military Kids' teen council, Scotlen Brown, said, "Someone who's not a military child doesn't know what it's like for their parent to go overseas, not know if they are going to come back."
He has been going to the camp for ten years, and he's transitioned from camper to junior counselor.
"When my dad retired, they gave him a certificate that said all the time that he's been away from his family, and it was like two whole years," said Brown.
The campers are typically all children of guardsmen, but occasionally kids from other branches of the military can get in if there is room.
Children who have immediate family members who have given the ultimate sacrifice while serving have top priority for getting into camp.
Then, kids who have immediate family currently deployed are prioritized next.
"It was hard because he was gone for a year," said Liberty Bassett, an eight-year-old camper. "I didn't really have two parents."
Camp Runnamucka is teaching the kids ways to deal with those feelings.
Brown said, "Connecting with other military children is really the only way to cope with it in my opinion."
"Kids who are going through things, they need people to support them," Basset said.
For more information about the camp, visit the Montana Guard Kids Facebook page.
