Uplifting Our Military Families

Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent the morning with veteran and active-duty service members and their loved-ones at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California.

Part of their visit included time spent with Operation Bigs, a first-of-its-kind mentoring program for children of military families, including active-duty, veteran, and Gold Star families. Mentors and mentees shared how mentorship is supporting their goals and ambitions, as well as the benefits of the community they have built through Operation Bigs. Founded in 2004, the program connects young people and families to mentors who can relate to the shared experiences and challenges faced by having a parent or parents in the military when they are on deployment and after they have returned.

To date, the program has served more than 3,000 Navy and Marine Corps children and has expanded to over 30 affiliates across the country.