A Life of Service

I’ve been in the Air Force for more than 9 years now and it wasn’t until just recently that I’ve felt “military”.  Last month I volunteered to work on the B-17 display at Barksdale.  I had worked on it before but that day I went out in uniform for a few hours, and something about the task, running the guard rail rope around the display, and the WWII era music playing over the loud speaker, I felt a definite connection to my heritage.

On our way here I looked around.  I saw men and women from around the Air Force coming together to get a job done.  It was the first time I really felt that camaraderie that you see in those war movies.  The coolest part of the trip though was our stop in one Eastern European country.  We were several hours into our trip.  We landed in a small little airport and were bussed off the tarmac.  As several hundred of us flooded the shops and waiting areas, we were met with odd looks from men and women who looked like they were out of a movie.  We were all spread out throughout the terminal anxiously waiting the last leg of our trip, and some rest.  When the word came, we all rose and headed for the gate.  The sight of all of us uniformed personnel must have stirred something because suddenly someone started the “slow clap” which built until the entire terminal was applauding we American servicemen headed to war.  It was one of many surreal moments I’ve had on this deployment.

The other day I attended a Fallen Warrior ceremony.  I piled into a hot bus full of other service members.  We were hauled out to the flight line where we all stood around and waited for direction.  We were given instructions and when told, formed up behind a C-17.  I somehow ended up in the front of the detail.  When ordered, we rendered a slow, ceremonial solute.  I stood there shoulder to shoulder with men and women from all different branches, officer and enlisted alike, as the flag draped casket of a fallen soldier passed in front of me and into a truck then on to another plane for his final trip home to his family.  It was an event that I’m glad I attended but I probably won’t be attending any more, and unfortunately there will be more.  Others I’ve spoken to said they will not go at all but I think I owed it to “them” to be there once.  Pay my respects and know that this is real and what we’re doing here matters.