The halls were certainly decked for this sacred American holiday. The dining halls, that is. Above is a picture of our DFAC (Dining Facility) expansion - a project I coordinated the finalization on. The DFAC staff does an amazing job trying to make us feel as close to home as possible, so along with Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, cold Coca-Cola, and televisions with AFN (Armed Forces Network) broadcasting 24-hours a day, they decorate for holidays.
The festiveness of the decorations is an honor to those who gave their "last full measure of devotion" though they don't tell their tale extremely well. Like the story of First Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte, victim of a recent IED attack. She was killed while traveling to Bagram Airfield for a conference on May 20th, 2009 in Afghanistan, just northeast of Kabul. When she applied for the US Air Force Academy, the war on terror had already started. We had troops in Afghanistan and a raging battle throughout a country already ravaged by 30 years of war. The Air Force already had an established presence in country and her participation in this battle was all but certain. She knew. She knew that gaining a comission from the Academy could mean a deployment to a war-zone in very little time. She knew that she could face the ultimate test of patriotism one day. And on a windy, hot day in Afghanistan, her patriotism was without question. Rightfully so, we honor her, not just on this designated holiday, but every day we benefit from the privilege of living in a free land.
No comments:
Post a Comment