The cavernous conference room at the Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., was packed with people.

Soldiers, airmen, sailors, and plenty of brass, too - a vice admiral here, a four-star general there. Even the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, was mingling with the crowd.

"It was overwhelming," recalled 16-year-old Taylor Broesch.

Taylor and the rest of the Broesch clan - dad Jerry, mom Kim and 8-year-old sister, Bella - traveled to Washington last month for the National Military Family Association Leadership Luncheon.

As the audience looked on, the Broesches were presented with two prestigious awards: the Army Family of the Year and the Military Family of the Year. The heavy glass trophies signified a commitment to volunteerism, community and education.

"The whole thing was for the girls," Jerry said Friday at the family's Hayden home. "The girls have done most of the work."

He was being a bit modest, Kim pointed out. Jerry has been serving his country for two decades: first as a Marine in the Persian Gulf War, and then as a National Guardsmen in Iraq.

Deployed in 2004, Jerry served with the 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade Combat Team, based in Post Falls, and returned safely to the United States. Three years later, he volunteered for another tour in Iraq with a California-based unit.

"They needed help," he said. "They were still saying they needed people over there."

Jerry was injured in a Humvee accident and hurt his knee while running in the sand. For four months he hobbled around the desert, enduring the pain.

When he finally got home, doctors performed a number of surgeries.

"Enough painkillers for a herd of elephants," Jerry said. "Now I've got steel plates in my knee, my back and my neck."

Still on active duty, he's now a member of the Guard's Warrior Transition Unit.

The sharp-witted teenager is dual-enrolled at Lake City High School and North Idaho College. Her mom describes her as "an overachiever;" she's on track to graduate from Lake City with an associate's degree.

But even with all that school work, Taylor makes time for hundreds of hours of volunteerism.

She's the president of Idaho State Military Youth - a National Guard group - and a spokesperson for Operation: Military Kids, an Army program that advocates for military children and raises awareness of the issues they face.

"They were there to help me a lot, through the first deployment and second one," Taylor said. "I wanted to get involved and make a difference in other kids' lives."

This past semester, she racked up 381 volunteer hours before losing track. From organizing summer camps to speaking with educators, Taylor is always up to something.

Last summer, for example, she gave a speech on Operation: Military Kids at an Elks meeting. She had planned on a small gathering, just the local club with a few members.

"It turned out to be the state conference that she went and spoke at," Kim recalled.

Of course, the state conference was very crowded. After Taylor made her speech, the Elks dug into their pockets and donated $1,500 to the OMK cause.

"A lot of people don't realize what it's like to be a military kid," Taylor said. "(The programs) just help you cope. They give you all different tips, and advice for coping through the deployment."

The whole family likes to help out. Kim does much of the driving, shuttling Taylor to functions in Boise or elsewhere.

Little Bella, the wise-cracking comedian of the group, does some fundraising for Taylor's projects and lends a hand wherever she can.

Somebody nominated Jerry, Kim, Taylor and Bella for Army Family of the Year, but the family doesn't know who it was. The nominator remains a mystery to this day.

NMFA informed the Broesches in May, a few references put in a good word, and on July 21 the family attended the special luncheon at the spacious Marriott.

The Army award was theirs alone; they shared Military Family of the Year with an Air Force family from Texas.

"Among other things, the families volunteered in schools, supported the spouses of deployed service members, served as mentors and friends to someone in need, and encouraged healthy living in both kids and adults," the MNFA website reads. "Above all, they demonstrated a central belief of the National Military Family Association - 'Together we're stronger.'"

For the Broesch crew, it was a combined effort - Jerry's longtime service, Taylor's dedication to military children, Kim's support and Bella's happy enthusiasm.

The family had earned those trophies together, they said.

"I thought it was great, because the girls had worked so hard," Jerry said. "It was amazing."