Two Communities, One Message: Military Families Matter

Queen Creek and San Tan Valley recognize September as Military Families Month

Twenty years ago, when my oldest son enlisted and deployed to a war zone in Iraq, I became part of a world I didn't fully understand until I was living it. There was tremendous pride, but also the waiting, worrying, and wondering that military families know so well.

I wanted to find other families who understood what I was going through. At the time, we didn’t have many support systems in our area. I wanted to support other families and make sure our service members serving far from home knew they were never forgotten. At the same time, my family and I needed support, too. That was the beginning of Military Moms in Queen Creek and San Tan Valley.

On September 16, twenty years later, that journey came full circle as Queen Creek and San Tan Valley recognized September as Military Families Month. To stand there as both communities honored military families while our group marked its 20th anniversary was a moment I could never have imagined when this all began.

Photo: Queen Creek Town Council members present a proclamation recognizing September 2026 as Military Families Month to Gold Star Mother Clarín Estrada of Queen Creek, and Maj. CJ Balke, U.S. Army, and his wife, Rachel, of Military Moms in QC/STV.

Our own family's military story grew, too. Both of my sons would eventually serve and are now veterans, and my daughter-in-law serves as well. My husband is also a Gold Star Son, having lost his father while he was serving our country. Military service has touched our family in ways I never could have anticipated.

Military service asks something of the entire family. There are nerve-wracking deployments and long separations, missed birthdays and holidays, phone calls anxiously waited for, and homecomings counted down one day at a time.

The men and women of our Armed Forces accept tremendous responsibilities wherever duty takes them, and behind each one are people who love them, worry about them, and wait for them. Some families can welcome their loved ones home. But others don’t get that chance and live with broken hearts and an empty place that can never truly be filled.

That is why these proclamations meant so much to me.

Photo: San Tan Valley Town Council members present a proclamation recognizing September 2026 as Military Families Month to San Tan Valley resident Bridgette Crosby, founder of Military Moms in QC/STV, and Florence resident Erica Crouch.

I am deeply grateful to the leaders of Queen Creek and San Tan Valley for recognizing and honoring all military families and for proclaiming September as Military Families Month. So much of military family life happens quietly and far from public view. This action meant that these towns took the time to see and acknowledge service members and their families and let them know that they matter.

Freedom is something we should never take for granted. For generations, Americans have stepped forward to serve our country, with families standing beside them through deployments, uncertainty, homecomings, and loss.

As America celebrates 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, I can't think of a more meaningful time to remember those who served before us, honor those serving today, and stand beside the families who serve in their own way.

These two proclamations carried a simple but powerful message:

Military families matter.

At the heart of it all are the people behind the uniform, the families who stand beside them, and a promise to never forget those who didn't make it home.

In Honor and Memory

Staff Sergeant Gary Lee Crosby, United States Air Force, 1976

Petty Officer Third Class Kyler LaVon Estrada, United States Navy, Queen Creek, Arizona 2012

For those serving today, those who served before them, those who never made it home, and the families who have stood beside them through it all:

We remember you. We see you. We honor you. We love you.

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