use his copy to read “together.”
This Veterans Day, Reach Out and Read honors military families by sharing the story of a partnership that bridges miles and moments through the power of reading.
For military families, distance is more than geography. Deployments, relocations, and training commitments create gaps — gaps between parents and children, between routines and stability, between homes and hearts. Together, United Through Reading (UTR) and Reach Out and Read are helping to turn those gaps into opportunities for connection through reading aloud.
Since 1989, UTR has been pioneering a powerful answer to separation: Service members record themselves reading aloud and send the video, along with a matching copy of the book, to their child at home. This free program is available to all branches of the Armed Forces, including Reserve, National Guard, and veterans, and operates through more than 300 recording locations worldwide as well as via a secure app. A parent’s recording, paired with a cherished book, allows families to sustain daily routines of storytime even when oceans or deployments separate them. Families report that the program strengthens resilience, eases transitions, and nurtures a love of reading that lasts long after the recording ends.
Enter Reach Out and Read, also established in 1989. As the only national pediatric literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Reach Out and Read model is incorporated into 7.7 million well-child visits annually at 6,500 clinical sites nationwide, including 58 on military installations across 24 states and overseas. During each well-child visit from birth through age 5, clinicians coach parents on the importance of daily shared reading and give them the tools to do so — a new developmentally-, linguistically-, and culturally-appropriate book to take home and build their home library. For military families, this model integrates literacy into trusted pediatric care, helping them establish healthy routines wherever they are stationed.
Together, the two organizations amplify each other’s strengths. Since the start of their partnership earlier this year, UTR has donated 6,800 new books to 21 Reach Out and Read clinics on military installations in Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Texas, and Washington. These donated books make it possible for families to benefit from Reach Out and Read’s clinical model and then extend that storytime experience through UTR’s recorded readings when duty calls a parent away.
The impact is immediate and enduring. In the exam room, a Reach Out and Read-trained clinician shares a new book with a child, modeling reading techniques and encouraging parents to use stories to build language and connection. That same book can later become a UTR video, transforming into a bridge between parent and child across time zones. Whether through a nightly “Goodnight Moon” recorded halfway around the world or a morning read-aloud at home, these shared moments help sustain the bonds that protect children’s health and resilience.
Military families face unique challenges — frequent relocations, long separations, and the stress of reintegration, all of which can disrupt early learning and bonding opportunities. By embedding this partnership within pediatric care, Reach Out and Read and UTR are removing barriers and making shared reading accessible, reliable, and sustainable for families who serve.
The evidence is clear: Families participating in Reach Out and Read read together more often, children demonstrate stronger language skills, and the parent-child bond is strengthened. UTR extends these benefits by ensuring that even distance cannot disrupt the routine of reading together. As a Reach Out and Read clinician reflected, “When we hand a child a book, it’s more than a gift — it’s a prescription for connection. For military families, that connection extends across miles and months apart.”
This Veterans Day, Reach Out and Read celebrates the service of military families with not only gratitude, but also with action. Through this partnership, 6,800 new books, literacy materials, and countless recordings have become bridges of comfort, resilience, and love. Each story shared strengthens a family, a community, and ultimately, the future of children whose parents serve our country.
In honoring veterans, we honor their children too, because every child deserves the chance to thrive through the simple, powerful act of reading together.
UTR staff drop books off at a Reach Out and Read site, Madigan Army Medical Center
at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.