On the Internet, there are all kinds of videos of teenagers being teenagers. Some are breathing helium and then talking like Donald Duck. Others are squealing because they got asked on a date. There are endless variations of kids getting grossed out by pimples.
But a recent posting on YouTube.com is different.
"I'm Moranda Hern, and I'm a military teen," says a young woman who looks like a cheerleader.
"I'm Kaylei Deakin," her friend says, wearing a bright blond mohawk. "I'm 16, and I'm also a California military teen."
The girls look straight into the camera, and sound proud.
"During my dad's deployment, it was a really tough time for my family," Hern continues. "And the more we identified with other military youth from across California, we saw they had the same need."
The high school girls, who will start their senior year in the fall, have decided to do something that nobody has done before — not Pentagon officials, not governors, not mayors (at least, NPR can't find a record of it). They are trying to organize the first major get-together for the children, specifically daughters, of troops who have gone to war.
"We'd like to boost these girls and their self-esteem and their self-confidence," Deakin tells the camera.
"We are growing the sisterhood, with our mantra: unite, inspire, lead," Hern adds.
They call their conference "The Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs" — a play on the title of a popular novel and Army speak for battle uniforms.
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