Two Eastern NC teens among winners of Military Child of the Year award
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit which aims to build strong, stable and secure military families so they can thrive in local communities has announced its seven winners of the Military Child of the Year award.
Two of those winners are from Eastern N.C. Isabella Smith, a 17-year-old from Hubert, is representing the U.S. Marine Corps and Emily Baldeosingh, 18 of Havelock, is representing the National Guard.
The winners were honored at a gala in Arlington, Va. Thursday night where each will be given a $10,000 grant. 'Marine Corps is all I've ever known and especially just being able to represent my dad and his story and my family and just a lot of that is just so awesome,' Smith said. 'I feel really special because obviously, a lot of my school and for many years, every single year, especially my advisor who nominated me, he's worked there for like over 20 years and he nominates people every single year and they've never had a winner. So, I didn't think I'd ever win because it just seemed impossible. All these kids who have come before me and haven't won, they've only gotten semifinalist or finalist and so, I was kind of told from the beginning that it was impossible. So, it felt like I accomplished the impossible when I won.'
'I always knew that I wanted to contribute my life to him when he passed away because it's crazy knowing that your life ended because you were serving and that's the ultimate sacrifice you can make for your country,' Baldeosingh said. 'So, I feel like as his daughter, it's my duty to make sure that his legacy is fulfilled. Yeah, everything I do is for him.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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