Honoring our heroes

Filed under Air Force, Heroes by on May 24, 2012 at 9:15 am {2 comments}

By Maj. Gen. Darren W. McDew
Air Force District of Washington Commander

In the National Capital Region, you do not have to look far to find monuments honoring our heroic Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who have paid the ultimate price in defense of our great Nation.

Maj. Gen. Darren W. McDew

This weekend, Americans will visit the memorials and cemeteries in Washington D.C. and throughout the U.S., as well as in Europe and the Pacific, to honor the hundreds of thousand fallen service members who have given their lives for our country and our freedom.

Many will remember grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles who served in World War I and World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the first Gulf War. Many more will pay tribute to husbands, wives, sons and daughters who recently lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Think about that … memorials and military cemeteries spread across this nation and throughout the world. The VA’s National Cemetery Administration maintains approximately 3.1 million gravesites at 131 national cemeteries in 39 states and U.S. territories, as well as in 33 “soldiers’ lots” and monument sites. The American Battle Monuments Commission manages 24 overseas military cemeteries, and 25 memorials, monuments and markers to honor those who served in World War I or World War II. The overseas locations memorialize more than 218,000 Americans with nearly 125,000 gravesites, and commemorate an additional 94,000 on “Tablets of the Missing.”

In Arlington National Cemetery, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment Soldiers (The Old Guard), U.S. Marine Corps Ceremonial and Guard Company Marines, U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guardsmen, U.S. Air Force Honor Guard members and U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard members will place more than 250,000 grave decorating flags. The flags will remain through Memorial Day.

The numbers are staggering, but they do not account for thousands more buried in state veterans’ cemeteries throughout the country.

The numbers also tell a story. These heroes hailed from every town and city in America. They came from every walk of life – young men and women straight out of high school and college to farmers, policemen, teachers, doctors, lawyers – you name it. Their ethnic backgrounds are equally as diverse. But they all had one thing in common – they served our nation during times of peace and war. They served as shields for America to keep war from reaching our front door. Unfortunately, too many lost their lives in foreign lands never to see their families again.

Today, we are faced with the grim reality that the number of fatalities since we began operations in Afghanistan and Iraq is up to more than 6,400. Every one of those losses is a loss to our nation, a loss to our military, and, most importantly, a loss to the families who grieve.

On this Memorial Day, at 3 p.m., wherever you are, I encourage you to pause and participate in the National Moment of Remembrance established by Congress. This is a moment of reflection and an opportunity to demonstrate our gratitude for our fallen warriors.

On Memorial Day and every day, let’s continue to make sure our heroes are never forgotten.

I thank you for your service and wish you a safe holiday weekend.

Remembering Arlington Airmen

Strength, courage on the home front

Filed under Air Force, Heroes by on December 15, 2011 at 6:04 pm {2 comments}

By Staff Sgt. Nicholas BreamSgt Bream and the 387th ELRS
96th Logistics Readiness Squadron

I was afforded the opportunity to share a heartfelt story of my experience while I was deployed on convoy duty in Iraq. The Learning Channel (TLC) came to my house before I arrived home and recorded the strength and courage that it takes my wife Nicole and three children, Amanda, Joseph, and Jessi to carry on everyday life while I am deployed.

The Learning Channel wanted service members who were deployed and had a special family event they wanted to share. In my case, when I was deployed in 2008 on convoy duty, Nicole gave birth to my son Joseph in Germany with only her friends by her side as I was on mission and could not be there with her. It was almost six months before I got home and the only way Joseph knew me was through a webcam and the sound of my voice. But as soon as he saw me he knew exactly who I was. And then in March of 2011 she gave birth to my daughter Jessi while I was not due back for another six weeks. I sat back and thought to myself “Wow.” I can’t imagine what it must be like to do that by herself and still take care of our other children and attend college full time.

Amanda and Nicole enjoyed watching shows about military members reuniting with family members after a deployment. One evening Amanda asked me via webcam if “Mommy and Daddy could surprise her like that when I came home.” I was excited to be able to surprise her like she wanted and to be able to share it with other people. After a few months of going back and forth with ideas we finally decided that we would make the show about my daughter getting her Girl Scout “Strength and Courage” badge awarded. Amanda helped out Nicole in every way that a 6 year old could. Amanda stepped up to take my place helping around the house, picking up the living room and folding laundry.

From that point on I handed the planning over to Nicole and the Girl Scout leader Elizabeth to work with the production crew. They set it up to be recorded at my home in Florida during a Girl Scout meeting. They invited a local fire fighter to talk about how much strength and courage it takes to do his job. After talking about that for a few minutes he then moved to introduce me, saying how it took more strength and courage to do my job overseas in hostile environments.

They all worked it perfectly so that when I got home from the airport all I had to do was walk in the door and surprise Amanda and her Girl Scout troop. She had no idea I was coming home yet and she was in total shock that her dad was the one to award her this achievement. After I surprised Amanda, Nicole had a surprise for me — getting to see my daughter Jessi for the first time in person since she was born. Up until then I had only seen her via webcam and pictures Nicole sent me. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to finally hold her.

I have deployed two times, and both times they have been for more than six months. Every military member, myself included, has to be ready at a moment’s notice to pick up and go somewhere else for duty. Whether it is for one day or 12 months we are not the ones who have it hard. It’s the family and loved ones we leave behind who are expected to carry on daily life without us.

Photo: Airmen with the 387th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle maintenance flight deployed to Southwest Asia in support of Operation New Dawn from September 2010 to April 2011.

Security Forces 9/11 Ruck March to Remember: Team Hurlburt

Filed under Air Force, Heroes by on August 11, 2011 at 6:57 pm {5 comments}

By Tech. Sgt. Chad M. Reemtsma
1st Special Operations Security Forces Squadron

We started with a sense of pride in the fact that there were only four of us doing what other bases were using four or five times the amount of members we had to accomplish the ruck march. We finished deeply humbled by the supporters’ sincere appreciation of the statement we were taking part in.

Tech. Sgt. Dance volunteered his personally owned vehicle as our transportation due to it having the most practical amount of space for our needs.

We departed July 28, 2011, at around 4:30 a.m. We met Team Columbus at noon at State Police Troop M, east of Brookhaven, Miss. Senior Airman Allen Buning and I took the first leg. We developed a 30 minute ruck / 1.5 hour down time schedule that worked out very well.

At roughly 6 p.m. Staff Sgt. McQuiggin and I brought our team into Monticello, Miss. We were greeted by the town with an escort and supporters on the street led by retired Master Sgt. Tim Lea of VFW Post #4889. The post let us stay the night at the Monticello Baptist Church and the Ladies Auxiliary cooked us dinner and let us use the showers.

At 5:30 a.m. we set out From Monticello, Miss., headed east toward Collins, Miss., and beyond. Around 2 p.m. Tech. Sgt. Dance brought us into Collins and it seemed like the whole town was on Main Street. Fire trucks blocked the side roads as we were led in by the Collins Police Department and the rear was brought up by Covington County who had been with us since Prentiss, Miss. The Collins city mayor was on main street and greeted us with city pins and handshakes. By 6 p.m. July 29 we made it 44 miles. We passed Collins, so we backtracked and headed into town to meet the residents of the Collins VA home. We also met James Sanford and his fellow supporters from the Veterans Outreach organization.

Heading out again at 5:30 in the morning we set out from our stopping point east of Collins toward Laurel, Miss. Around 10:30 a.m. we arrived in Laurel and received escort from the Laurel Police Department and fire dept. They escorted us to Laurel’s Veterans Memorial Museum where all members of the community were represented, from veterans to young people wanting to join the military as well as community leaders. We pressed on and made it several miles out of town before we quit for the night and headed back to Laurel for dinner, showers and lodging. The showers and lodging were provided by the Laurel Police Department, at their police training center located next to the Veterans Memorial Museum. We were treated to dinner by Laurel’s Fraternal Order of Police and the police chief.

We set out from east of Laurel at 5:30 a.m. and headed for our final destination in Bolinger/Silas, Ala. We met that deadline around 5:30 p.m. and headed back to the Waynesboro Fire Dept for the night. Waynesboro had some folks come to meet us and set us up with showers, a place to stay and a great barbecue dinner.

We slept in Aug. 1 and rendezvoused with the Tyndall Air Force Base team at around 10:30 a.m. and organized a change over ceremony and then hit the road and headed home.

Photo: (from left ro right) Staff Sgt. Michael McQuiggin, Senior Airman Allen Buning, Tech. Sgt. Daniel Dance and Tech. Sgt. Chad Reemtsma line up with their squadron’s guidon before heading out for their leg of the ruck march. The previous photo was removed due to some uniform items not being within regulations.

Wingman concept is working: Rebuilding lives after Souris River flood

Filed under Air Force, Heroes by on August 3, 2011 at 6:44 pm {no comments}

By Airman 1st Class Krystal Tomlin
Air Force Public Affairs Agency

WingmenIn a DODLive Bloggers Roundtable July 15, 2011, Lt. Col. Jon Dawson, Inspector General at Minot Air Force Base (AFB), ND gave a first-hand account of returning to his home after a destructive flood, named the worst in Minot history. More importantly, he talked about how wingmanship prevailed in a time when devastation could overwhelm a community.

The husband and father of two teenaged sons has a house, which was built in 1895, on the Souris River. Until now, it had never flooded. This summer, despite sandbagging efforts, water rose to three or four feet, just above the windows of the main floor, completely filling the basement. A 15-foot bird house was covered to the 13-foot mark in water from a river that usually dries up to not much more than six inches in summer months.

After working during the day, Dawson went home to clean. The main floor had been gutted down to the studs, and water was still being pumped out of the basement. His belongings were scattered between the second floor of his house, a neighbor’s garage, the base house garage and a few personal items that he and his family have with them. Temporary living arrangements will be available to the Dawson family until mid-August at which point he will be looking for a place to live.

Dawson was not the only one. He admits that he got hit worse than some, but points out that he still fared better than others. In Minot and the surrounding areas there are 11,000 people, of which 1,200 are Airmen, displaced due to the rising waters.

“I didn’t do it for me. I did it for the 10,000 other people out there,” said Dawson about his participation in an interview that would provide an understanding of what flood victims are experiencing.

Throughout all of this, Minot AFB has operated normally. It takes resiliency and Airmen helping Airmen to make that happen in times like this.

“The wingman system is working,” said Dawson. The wing commander released 300 Airmen for volunteer alternate duty location. These Airmen have helped fill sandbags, and will continue to help with clean-up efforts around the city. In addition to that, many more Airmen volunteered their free time.

Some folks have offered their homes to displaced people which has reduced the burden on the shelters. Also, there is a system on base to match displaced Airmen with a family that is able to share or donate items or services.

Chapel services throughout the Air Force are collecting money for Airmen affected by the flood, so be sure to get in touch with your chaplain if you are interested in helping out or make a donation to Operation Warmheart by sending a check made payable to “Operation Warmheart” and place the words “flood relief” in the memo line and mail to the following address:

Minot Airman and Family Readiness Center
22 Peacekeeper Place
Minot, N.D. 58705

Photo: (Top) U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Devin Vitt (left) and Capt. Bryant Harrison, 23rd Bomb Squadron radar navigator and pilot respectively, help sandbag the home of Lt. Col. John Dawson, 5th Bomb Wing Inspector General, in Burlington, N.D., June 23, 2011. The Airmen are assigned to Minot Air Force Base, N.D. The Souris River, which begins in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, is expected to inundate thousands of homes and businesses. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sharida Jackson)
(Bottom) Water engulfs a neighborhood in Minot, N.D., June 23, 2011. As many as 10,000 residents, about one-fourth of the city’s population, have evacuated as the fast-rising Souris River inundates thousands of homes and businesses. The deluge from the Souris River is expected to exceed that of the city’s historical 1969 flood, making this the region’s worst flooding in four decades. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Sharida Jackson)