Serving in the military has been a long standing tradition in my family, starting with WWI and my grandfather who served in the Army. My father also served in the Army in WWII. My Uncle, (my Dad's sister's husband) served in the Air Force during WWII as a pilot. Sadly, I don't know much about their time in the Military. My husband's father retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service. My husband was also in the Air Force and served in Vietnam as a Military Policeman, dog handler. My oldest son went into the Marines the summer after he graduated from High School, was in 5 years, as a avionics tech, working on the electronic systems of the CH 46 helicopters. He was in Iraq twice, and finished out his tour working in the armory at the base outside of San Diego in California. While in, he also acquired the title of expert marksman. While he was over seas, I was pretty comfortable because with his job, working on the helicopters, he was always on base. Even though the base was routinely shelled, my worry level was pretty low. Little did I know that near the end of his time there, since he was a expert marksman, he was sent out on the choppers for his team as cover when they picked up wounded, delivered supplies etc. This I didn't know till he came home. THANK GOODNESS! My middle child, Aaron joined the Air Force for 4 years right out of High School also. When you enlist in the Air Force, you take a test and depending on how high you score, you get to pick the job you want in that score category. Aaron scored in the top 10% so had his pick of the top jobs. He choose crew chief on F 15s, which is the person who is in charge of the crew making sure that the fighter jet he is assigned to is maintained in pristine condition with all systems, etcetera ready to go. His first tour of duty was a year in England which allowed him to do some traveling around Europe during his time off. He was also sent on a short deployment to Iceland which he said was one of his favorite places, beautiful country, people wonderful and excellent beer! He was then stationed outside Raleigh NC. Right before his time was up he was sent to Afghanistan but thankfully was only there for a few months before his company was sent back to his base in NC where he finished out his time in the Air Force. Between them all, they racked up a lot of years in the Military, serving their country and I couldn't be prouder! As you can probably guess, Veteran's Day is very meaningful to our family as I'm sure it is to all the Military families across our country.
In honor of my Military Men , I'm posting some photos of them!
Be prepared, for photo overload!
This is not the best ,pic of a pic but it's one of my favorites of Chris.
The color is off but in a way kind of apropos since his unit overseas
was called the Purple Foxes. The badge was the one he wore on his
uniform while he was in Iraq.
Aaron, Kate, and Chris, both made it home for Christmas
This was taken on a visit to CA, my brother-in-law's brother was a captain in the Marines and flew
heliopters in Desert Storm. He took Chris, then 4 out to Camp Pendleton to see his helicopter.
Who knew that years later Chris would be stationed out there at the same base.
These are some of the copters Chris worked on while in Iraq
These next two are of him at the Marine ball
Good Times!
I thought this was such a beautiful shot
These next photos are of Aaron
Aaron and his sister at his graduation from AF boot came in
San Antonio, Texas
Aaron was in Afghanistan for Christmas
He's definitely my "goof ball"
One of the perks of being a crew chief is that you get to have your name
under your pilot's on his jet
This is their father in Viet Nam with his dog
Their Grandfather on their Dad's side
My Dad, My Grandfather and my Dad's best friend
My Uncle Lefty, (I was lucky enough to find his wings and dog tags after
my Aunt passed away and we were getting her house ready to sell)!
I had to add this pic of my Aunt and Uncle because it is one of
my favorites. This is my Dad's sister and our "fun" Aunt. They
were unable to have kids so we filled in. She was the one who
bought us the ''cool" clothes, took us "cruising" back in the day,
took us to the beach and had her bikini on (and looked amazing)
right along with us! When I look back at the fun times growing
up, she was always there!
Till next time.........
Rebecca
This week I'll be joining these parties:
Tuesday
