Act of Kindness Honoring Airmen

Uniform Inspires Act of Honoring Airmen, Silver Wings, 22 August 2008, p. 9

I was pleased to see an article in the Columbus Air Force Base newspaper about an Air Force Master Sergeant at Luke Air Force Base having her books bought for her by a citizen. It is was nice to read that almost 7 years after the events of 11 September 2001, there are citizens who are still thankful and appreciative of what the military does for them. What’s more telling is the fact that this person recently lost his brother to the conflict in Iraq. This man had made a tremendous sacrifice yet he wanted to thank this Airman for her service.

I too have been blessed with the kindness of ordinary people over the years. During drill weekends it was not at all uncommon to have people, generally elderly, but not always, come up and thank me and those I was with for what we do. On my trips home I have also seen kindness. It was never much, but it was meaningful. Perhaps the most meaningful was a stop at Burger King on my home from drill one Sunday. I was in uniform and ran in to get a couple of burgers. The total cost was only a few dollars but when I pulled out my wallet to pay, the young lady, okay the girl—seemed to still be in high school—told me there was no charge. I thanked her but told her I wanted to pay. Her response was “No, I appreciate what you do and this makes me feel like I am serving my country too.” I couldn’t argue with that logic.

Whether it is books or burgers, we do appreciate these gestures of kindness. But please excuse us if we seem a little uncomfortable. Most of us were reared in environments where we were the ones who were expected to make the sacrifices for others and we are not used to having others show us that side—outside the military anyway.