Editing Pat Conroy (section)

==Military brat cultural identity and awareness movement==
Conroy was a major supporter of the research and writing efforts of journalist [[Mary Edwards Wertsch]] in her identification of the [[Military brat (US subculture)|hidden subculture of American Military Brats]], the children of career military families, who grow up moving constantly, deeply immersed in the military, and often personally affected by war.<ref name=podcast>[http://www.militarybrat.com/Podcasts/EBHAS2.mp3 Podcast interview with Rudy Maxa], militarybrat.com; retrieved January 28, 2007.</ref>

=== Conroy's essay on military childhood ===
In 1991, Wertsch "launched the movement for military brat cultural identity" with her book ''Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood inside the Fortress''. In researching her book, Wertsch identified common themes from interviews of over 80 offspring of military households, including the special challenges, strengths and also the unique subculture experienced by American "military brats". While this book does not purport to be a scientific study, subsequent research has validated many of her findings.<ref name=podcast/>

Conroy contributed a now widely circulated ten-page essay on American military childhood, including his own childhood, to Wertsch's book, which was used as the introduction. It included the following:

{{blockquote|Her book speaks in a language that is clear and stinging and instantly recognizable to me [as a brat], yet it's a language I was not even aware I spoke. She isolates the military brats of America as a new indigenous subculture with our own customs, rites of passage, forms of communication, and folkways&nbsp;.... With this book, Mary [Wertsch] astonished me and introduced me to a secret family I did not know I had.<ref>From the introduction to the book, but quoted from{{cite web|url=http://www.tckworld.com/read/mbrats.html |title=TCK World's Suggested Reading |access-date=December 30, 2006 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230230736/http://www.tckworld.com/read/mbrats.html |archive-date=December 30, 2006 }}</ref>}}

===Conroy's role in ''Brats: Our Journey Home''===
Conroy also authorized the use of his work in the award-winning documentary ''[[Brats: Our Journey Home]]'' directed by [[Donna Musil]], that endeavors to bring the hidden subculture of military brats into greater public awareness, as well as aiding military brat self-awareness and support.<ref name="bojh">Musil, Donna, Producer and Director, "Brats: Our Journey Home" Documentary about Military Brats, Brats Without Borders Inc., Atlanta Georgia, 2005.</ref>

The documentary ends with a quote of Conroy about the invisibility of the [[Military brat (US subculture)|military brat subculture]] to the wider American society.<ref name="bojh"/> Conroy wrote, "We spent our entire childhoods in the service of our country, and no one even knew we were there."<ref name="bojh"/>