(CNN) -- In Pennsylvania, Tyler Dix, a 16-year-old movie buff, is wide awake by 7 a.m. to cook breakfast for his younger siblings. Moranda Hern and Kaylei Deakin started Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs, or battle dress uniforms. In Georgia, Tucker Simmons, a 14-year old novice guitarist, prepares ice packs for his mother whenever her chronic lower back pain kicks in. In California, Kaylei Deakin, an avid 17-year old rock climber, disciplines her little sisters when they act out. Tyler, Tucker and Kaylei are three teenagers from across the country who have very different interests, but one experience that bonds them: They grew up fast -- sometimes too quickly -- to fill the shoes of mom or dad when their parent was shipped off to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Children of parents deployed to wars overseas assume adult responsibilities
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Deployments cause stress but also force teens to become more resilient
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"My dad told me I am the man of the house, and I have to act like it," says Tyler Dix, 16
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Teens created the Sisterhood of the BDUs to bring girls together
@placeholder talks to his father by phone, from once a week to several times, updating him on how the rest of the family is doing.