11th of November

Today is Veteran's Day and how perfect is it to have it in November? For the freedoms that we all enjoy, my thanks goes to the men and women in ALL branches of the military. I salute you!

I am a military brat. I may not be a typical one but nonetheless, I am. First child to my parents, I was born in England at the RAF Upper Heyford Base. Like normal Air Force families, we lived there for two years, enough time for my terrible twos and my brother to arrive before we were shipped off to Fort Worth, Texas. Thankfully, our time there was quite short and so I won't say anything about it that hoarded place!! Then when I was 3 & 3/4, we moved once again to Malstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana which is where I call home. My two little sisters were born while we lived on the base. 

But, anyways more to the point I am trying to get to, my dad tried very hard to keep us in Great Falls. He took every special job on the base that he could find.

But one of his jobs, I will always remember.

When September 11th, 2001 hit, I was twelve. My dad around this time worked at the Family Support Center. And when Bush declared war on Afhganistan, the Red Horse Division from our base were deployed immediately. This left many families without fathers for a long time. Luckily those families had my father.

My dad after the deployment became the "Relief Society President" for those women (during the time that my mom actually was for the church). We went to numerous activities as volunteers for those families. My dad made sure walks got shoveled and they had rides to places if needed. He also organized Operation Warm Heart. He had each deployed family come in to take a picture so that we could put it on a pillowcase along with letters, cookies, & more to send out to the families deployed member. We sent out tons of boxes so that those men felt loved, appreciated and knew their family was being taken care of.

My dad is one of my veterans. He may not have fought in a war but he served and took care of things at home. I know of the dedication he put into that assignment and I thank you, dad, for your service!

What veterans do you know that you should thank for their service?