Religious tradition, family, inspire Military Child of the Year to greater heights

WASHINGTON - At the most pivotal moment of her young life, then 13-year-old Lila Morgan clutched the hand of her little brother, Charles Elijah, and danced on the floor of Congregation Schaarai Zedek, a gated, Jewish synagogue in Tampa, Florida.

Charles, 11, took the place of their father, then-Sgt. Larry Morgan, in the traditional father-daughter dance at Lila's bat mitzvah ceremony on July 16, 2020. During the ceremony, her brother stepped in to take his father's place.

Charles and Lila swayed and smiled to Charlie Puth's "One Call Away" before dozens of friends and family.

"When we learned about his deployment, it was heartbreaking to realize he was going to miss a moment I had worked toward and looked forward to for so long," Lila said. "But almost immediately, my younger brother Charles stepped in, determined to make sure I wouldn't feel alone or like I was missing anything."

That summer day, the Morgans celebrated the Jewish tradition of Lila's passage into adulthood without the most important figure in her life. Becoming a bat mitzvah signifies a woman's obligation to uphold and obey the Jewish commandments, making her vows to Judaism binding.

Thousands of miles across the Atlantic in Lithuania, Larry, a member of the Florida Army National Guard, was supporting a NATO deterrence mission in the Baltic region. The family had rescheduled the bat mitzvah celebration three times but could not predict when Larry would get the call to deploy.

"There was a quiet sense of melancholy in knowing [Dad] wasn't physically there," Lila said. "But even stronger than that was an overwhelming feeling of joy and pride because in that moment my dad was there through my brother."

At the age when most teenage girls are preparing for high school and the beginning of adolescence, Lila had to grow up faster than her peers. Her father, who had returned to military service in his 40s, would be undertaking military missions with the National Guard, leaving home for months at a time.

The Talmud, the foundational text of Jewish religious and civil law, indicates that God has given women greater wisdom. Jewish law refers to women as the "foundation" of the house. Larry Morgan said Lila, now 18 years old and the 2026 Operation Homefront Military Child of the Year for the National Guard, embodied those notions while helping her mother raise her younger brothers, and empathizing with other Jewish students.

"She doesn't want adversity to be her story," Larry said. "She wants her story to be the things that she's done and other people she's shined on or helped."

A child prodigy, Lila met the requirements to graduate high school by age 13. She continued to excel academically, reaching milestone after milestone - driven in part by a love of learning that she and her dad had always shared.

"While he couldn't always be there in person, his presence was evident in every achievement," Lila said. "He wasn't always in the room-but he was in the result."

Return to arms

In 2019, after the family moved to Florida, Larry decided to re-enlist, driven by a desire to support communities affected by disasters such as the California towns affected by the California wildfires.

He re-enlisted as an infantry sergeant and used the benefits from the National Guard to complete his bachelor's degree in business from Saint Leo University at the age of 40. He began Officer Candidate School at the onset of COVID-19, then commissioned as an air defense artillery officer in the Florida Army National Guard.

Larry said he joined the Guard to get back into shape and once again serve his country. "I felt like a left a lot on the table in leaving the military," he said. He had deployed as a member of the Marine Corps Reserve during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and left the service in 2005, two years before Lila's birth.

Larry still gets emotional when he speaks about missing his daughter's bat mitzvah, most of her birthdays, and academic award ceremonies and competitions. He even missed her first high school breakup.

"I can look back and say how much I grew and how much I learned from [being a military child] how wonderful it is," Lila said. "But in those deployments, in those moments, it's difficult. And it is stress-inducing to be able to balance your life and support your family and comfort your younger siblings and help comfort your mom."

In the Jewish faith, women are the standard bearers who pass on religious and cultural traditions to their children. Lila tutored her younger brothers on Judaism and the importance of becoming bar mitzvahs and she taught Sunday school lessons at her local synagogue. However, it was while her father serve his state particularly during South Florida's hurricane evacuations, she learned to model her life after his example.

"I'm looking at a picture of him right now in my room," Lila said. "My father has taught me so much about how to view the world and how to approach the world."

She said she emulated her father's leadership style when she took command of her Civil Air Patrol cadet squadron. She got to know each member of her squadron as her dad did with his Soldiers as a platoon commander. Larry moved his family to south central Florida to expose his children to greater diversity and perspectives.

"He works with other leaders in the mindset of making a transformational change to people," Lila said. "His power as a leader comes from his people, because he works in a way to build trust and respect with them."

Now set to graduate from the University of South Florida in August with a double major in politic science and criminology, Operation Homefront named Lila its 2026 Military Child of the Year. The 18-year-old plans to spend a year studying at a seminary in Jerusalem, dedicating time to personal growth and strengthening her connection to her faith. She will then return to pursue a law degree, with the goal of commissioning as an Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer and completing law school by age 22.

From January to May 2025, Lila served as an intern in the office of Representative Kathy Castor of Florida's 14th Congressional District. She returned in January 2026 and now serves as the lead intern. In June 2025, she also began working with the International Institute of Leadership and Strategic Management an Institute of the United Nations Human Rights Council, where she contributes to their Certified Youth Advocate division.

An old soul

As a kindergartner, Lila defended an autistic student from bullying when she noticed classmates cornering and intimidating her friend. Lila stood in between her friend and the bullies before storming to the principal's office. Lila credits this experience as a key starting point in her decision to pursue a career in law, noting that a passion for advocating for what is right has been part of her for as long as she can remember.

Relatives and teachers noticed Lila struggling to remain engaged and challenged. Larry found new ways to push her intellectually-bringing home academic challenges and engaging her in conversations about philosophy, curiosity, and geopolitics. Relatives and teachers enrolled her in a gifted program and began taking advanced core courses above her grade level.

"Everyone would say she was like an old soul -- very caring and thoughtful," Larry said. "Like she saw the world in a bigger picture than most kids her age."

Larry had grown up as a military child himself, excelling as a multi-sport athlete in football, basketball, swimming and rugby. However, unlike his daughter, he struggled in high school earning poor grades. Years later he learned he possessed high intelligence but suffered from dyslexia. In the Marine Corps, he completed a training course faster than other students. He learned better working with his hands. He later earned his business degree from nearby Saint Leo University.

Lila said her dad sparked her academic curiosity. She saw her father discover his aptitude for learning. Her father's experience pushed Lila to become an advocate for utilizing different forms of teaching methods to support all learning modalities when she took command of her Civil Air Patrol squadron.

"Becoming a military child opened my mind to what was possible in the world," Lila said. "Because I saw my father at 40 years old decide to completely reinvent his life."

During Larry's National Guard deployments, he posted a world map in his daughter's room at the family's house in Lithia, Florida. When she communicated with her father by video conference call, the pair would share news articles. Lila would then place a pin on each country on the map and track where the events had direct or indirect impacts. She and her dad would engage in deep conversations about underlying factors that led to the news stories, such as wars.

"In many ways it became how we stayed connected," Lila said.

During her dad's first deployment, Lila overcame her anxiety by delving into what she knew best, academics. She graduated from high school at age 16, while simultaneously taking college courses. Though she got accepted into some of the nation's top institutions, she chose to remain close and support her family during her dad's deployments, enrolling at USF. In addition to academics, she contributed to the community, accumulating 1,600 volunteer hours in the past year.

"My academics were something I could control," she said. "This was something I was completely responsible for, that I could pour myself into, and I can guarantee the outcome, and I can guarantee the results."

She also joined the Florida Army National Guard's Child and Youth Program, serving on the program's youth advisory council as vice president and president until her high school graduation. The National Guard dedicated the program to building strong communities for Guard families across the state.

During this time, she also competed in the Accomplished American Pageant System, a community service-based pageant organization. Her platform focused on empowering women in male-dominated fields. She became the youngest person in the pageant's history to be crowned Miss Florida 2023 and went on to earn the national title of Accomplished American Grand Supreme 2023, also as the youngest titleholder.

After graduating from high school, she co-founded her own nonprofit organization, I Choose To Be Drug Free, Inc., dedicated to youth substance abuse prevention.

To continue communicating with dad, Lila and her brothers wrote letters and placed them with photos in a shoebox. Larry then brought the box with him on his deployment and opened a letter every week on Shabbat, a 25-hour observance and day of rest.

In total, Larry, now an executive officer, would spend 36 months deployed. And during those months, Lila shouldered more responsibility.

She recalled one afternoon when a pipe had burst inside the family's home. The teenager drove home from USF's campus to help fix the plumbing. Frustrated, she knew at times the limits of her patience would be tested, but she never faltered. When a hurricane approached the Tampa area, Lila helped the family prepare the house for the storm, securing a fallen tree while Larry deployed on a search and rescue mission in north Florida.

"These are experiences that most 14-, to 15-year-olds aren't getting. It builds your character in tremendous ways," Lila said. "And it was one of the most beautiful gifts I was ever given because it gave me so many skill sets and so many character traits that I wouldn't have had otherwise."

Larry, as a member of a short-range, air defense or SHORAD unit, would leave at moment's notice to travel to where the eye of the storm was expected to hit. His unit would survey the area and connect with other first responders. Larry would evacuate homes before the hurricanes made landfall and distribute food and supplies to displaced residents after the storm. He would also clear trees and brush from the roads for quick, safe passage during evacuations.

"It was very eye-opening, all the different stuff that we do," Larry said.

Inspired by her father's service Lila plans to commission into the Army. The USF senior will study law in the fall of 2027, where she will fulfill a childhood pledge she made to herself in first grade: to become a military lawyer. Lila credits her early childhood experiences for her interest in law and eventually as a JAG officer.

Making and impact

At a time of rising antisemitism, many Jewish Americans have hidden their Jewish identity, according to an article published by the Pew Research Center in April. Rather than hide, Lila joined the USF's Jewish Student Association board to advocate against injustice and promote a more vibrant and flourishing Jewish life on campus.

"My father is dedicating himself to his service, and he's so much better off as a person because of it, and he's bettering our world," she said. "I can do the same even though I'm young. And I can make massive impacts and massive strides to change our world."

When she arrived at USF, other Jewish students suffered abuse by their peers. A fellow student once called her "a terrorist" in the middle of class.

"It was terrifying to be on campus," Lila said. "My friends got spit on. My friends got cornered. They weren't allowed in class. "Professors were failing them intentionally. It was a really rough time."

She said that through outreach efforts with campus administrators, safety for Jewish students has improved at USF. The school made more kosher dining options available and the Jewish student population has risen.

Lila still proudly displays her culture, often wearing a Star of David - a symbol of protection, and traditional Jewish clothing. She hopes to one day rise to the top of the JAG Corps ranks and become a public defender for clients who cannot afford attorneys.

"Antisemitism has been something I've experienced since I was in kindergarten, and I do genuinely believe it did inspire the love of law in me," Lila said. "Because I've always been someone, since I was in elementary school, who would stand up for someone else."

After years of leadership experience, Lila decided to write her own book on leadership, geared toward teenagers who aspire to become leaders in their own right. "Becoming Undeniable," is set to be released in May 2026 and is designed to provide young leaders with a clear roadmap to building credibility and influence in any field, regardless of their age.

When Lila encountered a student in her Junior ROTC battalion who suffered from domestic abuse, Lila brought the student to her family's home.

"Lila brought her home and gave her a sanctuary to feel safe and talk through some things," Larry said. "She helped her out more like a mentor."

Before moving to Washington to attend law school, Lila will travel to a Yeshiva in Israel, where she will spend a year in intensive study of ancient Hebrew texts the Talmud and Halacha, which documents Jewish law.

After becoming a bat mitzvah, Lila made a personal pact with herself. Although she felt a strong bond to Judaism her entire life, at 13, she studied the religion more closely. It eventually became the strongest part of her identity.

"[Judaism] is something that's active in my day-to-day life, from the very first thing I say when I wake up in the morning, and my very first actions of the day, to my very last actions of my day," she said. "It's prevalent in the people I surround myself with, the values and the way I approach the world, and how I get over a difficult time, and how I reframe my mindset when things are difficult."

Lila Morgan contributed to this report

Related Links

The Official Website of the National Guard | NationalGuard.mil

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