A song dedicated to Military BRATs — and sung by them — has been released on YouTube.
The “Military Kid Song” was written by a retiring educator who teaches for the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) to celebrate the unique experiences of military-connected students.
In 2017, Ryan Davis, who at that time served as a music teacher at Yokota West Elementary School in Japan, was leading a musical program for the Month of the Military Child.
“As I was preparing for the event, I couldn’t find a song about military kids living overseas,” Davis says. “With my music background and a class in composing during college, I felt confident I could put together a song to fill the need.”
In order to truly capture the experiences of military kids, Davis spoke with his students, his own children – who were Military BRATs – and his own memories as a Military BRAT at Ramstein High School in Germany.
I couldn’t find a song about military kids living overseas.
This year, Davis announced his retirement from Sasebo Elementary School, where he serves as the art teacher. While colleagues and parents congratulated him, they also wanted to know – was there a recording of the “Military Kid Song?”
There wasn’t – until now.
FINDING A STUDIO
Davis located a studio in Sasebo, reached out to the owner and a special cultural exchange opportunity followed. The owner, Hitoshi Yamachika, who also teaches music, not only agreed to allow Davis and DODEA students to record using his space – he also welcomed the use of his students’ talent for the instruments on the recording.
It took three recording sessions to pull it together with DODEA students, ranging in age from 4-13, recording vocals in the studio on the third and final session. Afterward, those students were able to meet the Japanese student musicians who had recorded the instrumentals. In the days following, Yamachika completed a final mix of the recording.
“The goal of the recording is to provide a song for the overseas military community, so they have a song written specifically about them for future Month of the Military Child events,” Davis says.
Check out the song below.
