Humanitarian aid and the military

Today, I find myself wishing again that I could be at COT. My husband is giving a presentation on one of my favorite topics-- Africa. He is discussing how the Air Force has helped fight HIV and AIDS on my favorite continent.

Did you know the Air Force is involved in that mission? I didn't. But it's just one more reason that I am proud to call us an Air Force family.

What has struck us the most over the last two years is how involved our military is in humanitarian aid. As a civilian, I was pretty ignorant of that fact. I'll never forget when the earthquake hit Haiti. Brandon immediately wanted to go help with rescue operations and emergency medical treatment. . . but he couldn't, because he wasn't hooked up with any group that had access. We followed the news and later saw that the United States Air Force was one of the first groups to hit the ground. Brandon had already made the decision to join, but that gave him even more confirmation that this was what he wanted to do.

On the news, I typically see more sensational stories about the horrors of war-- soldiers returning with PTSD, the rape of our female service members, the many, many causalities. . . These are all true stories, and deserve coverage. We should never forget the cost of war or minimize the sacrifices our service men and women and their families are making. 

But I also want to see these stories-- stories about the Air Force team that has assisted a school for girls in Afghanistan and donated school supplies out of their care packages, about the many ways the Air Force provided relief through Operation Haiti, and about people like Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt.

I'm proud to be a part of the military family.