House of ARMY pt. 2 The Special Breed that is ARMY Dads
It isn’t always easy to find an ARMY Dad. Not many of them have stan accounts the way moms do; they don’t always have merch or decals on their cars. They are out there, though, quietly supporting their own personal ARMY and BTS at the same time. These are some of their experiences.
Many ARMYs have grown to love BTS for their music and message. The same can be said for these ARMY dads. Mathieu from Canada told us that it was actually his wife who brought him over. Though it took him a while, BTS’ music eventually grew on him. In fact, he downloaded MOTS: 7 the day it dropped. “I was out of town for work, and had to leave early in the morning to drive back home,” he stated. “But the moment I woke up, I made sure to download it onto my phone so I could listen on the way home. I must've listened to it at least three times.” Even though BTS’ music lies outside his preferred genres, Mathieu enjoys it because, “good music is just good music.”
Sam, from the US, prefers the rap line, but joked that living with three females has helped him, “learn to tolerate the softer stuff.” As a fan of 90’s hip hop, he was excited to watch “American Hustle Life” with his family, which helped him get to know the members better. “My favorite song is Cypher 4,” Sam told us. “Any of the rap line songs are welcomed in my car.” It isn’t just the music that resonates with Sam, though. “They are honorable young men,” he said.
Sam isn’t the only one who feels that way. Claudio, who lives in Italy, loves how BTS has helped him with day to day challenges. When his daughters first gave him a ticket for the concert in Paris, Claudio was hesitant. He soon realized that BTS provides help to a lot of people, including himself. “After having had such a wonderful experience [at the concert],” he confessed, “I understood that they would also help me to face everyday life.”
Joel, on the other hand, loves BTS for their stories and the inspirations behind their music. What he finds most admirable is how they are breaking stereotypes by singing about their struggles, as well as giving back to society. It’s so impressive to him that, as a pastor in India, he “used them as an example in some of my messages during Youth meetings.”
In Canada, Laurent first heard about BTS, when his daughter was watching them play Twister. He admits to feeling very confused at first. “How can you follow what's happening?” he thought. It was almost too chaotic with all the laughter, movement, and trying to read the subtitles. He then started to watch some Run BTS! episodes, along with all seasons of “Bon Voyage” (which Laurent calls a “must see”). Of course, it wasn’t long before the music followed. “It's been a year now and I enjoy watching VLive with my daughter or listening to BTS in the car,” he said. Laurent even shared his bias with us. “I like all the members of BTS, but I am particularly following Jimin,” Laurent admitted. “I appreciate how kind he is with the rest of the members and how good a dancer he is.” Don’t worry, Laurent, we love Jimin, too.
It’s amazing how BTS has attracted fans from all cultures, genders, orientation, and age. One might say that ARMY is anything but exclusively young and female. The dads who support BTS, have chosen to do so for various reasons, but one thing is clear: they love their families and the members of BTS, as much as every other member of ARMY.
ARMY Dads are a special breed of people. If you are lucky enough to have one in your life, you are blessed. Here at ARMY Magazine, we don’t have any dads on staff, so we reached out via other means to find the dads for this blog. We want to give a special shout out to the dads who helped with this blog, those who are family members of our staff, and those who connected with us from ARMYMomInternational (@ProudBTSArmyMom on Twitter). 감사합니다 - WE PURPLE YOU!
Written by: Marcie
Edited by: Sanam
Designed by: Achan
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