Making Peace Visible11 Nov 2025

Shining a light on veterans and their children

“ Military children serve alongside their parents, except they're invisible.” – Harold Kudler, M.D.

Millions of American children have had parents serve in Iraq, Afghanistan, or other wars following September 11, 2001. This episode focuses on the wellbeing of those children, who tend to grow up fast.

Susan Hackley is the director of the short documentary film Veteran Children. The film offers a window into the often hidden lives of military spouses and kids. Through interviews and roundtables, viewers meet children who have suffered as a result of their parents’ service, and also those who stepped up to help a wounded parent.

Hackley made the film after a long career in peacebuilding, during which she served 19 years as managing director of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, one of the world’s leading centers of negotiation and conflict analysis. She also served as Chair of the Alliance for Peace Building. Military lives and families are personal to Hackley. She lost a boyfriend in the Vietnam war, and her son served as a Marine Corps infantryman in Iraq.

Dr. Harold Kudler is a psychiatrist and expert on the mental health of veterans and their families, who is featured in Veteran Children. He’s a Medical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University.

LEARN MORE

Watch Veteran Children for free (30 minutes)

Statistics and recommended reading from the Veteran Children Project

Issue of the journal The Future of Children on Military Children and Families, with chapter Building Communities of Care for Military Children and Families co-written by Dr. Harold Kudler

The Military Child Education Coalition

Sesame Street’s Resources for Military Families

Zero to Three’s Resources for Military Families

The Military Family Research Center at Purdue University

ABOUT THE SHOW

The Making Peace Visible podcast is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Our associate producer is Faith McClure. Learn more at makingpeacevisible.org

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