SUBMITTED BY:  KELLY P.

Hello, I want to write and tell you about my veteran, my husband. My husband has been in the Air Force for 20 years. We have been together 19 of those years. Ever since the beginning of his Air Force career he has always felt a strong obligation to his country and has always put his all into everything he has done. Before 9/11 my husband had a very simple military career with only a 1 year tour to Korea. Of course on 9/11 that all changed.

On 9/11 my husband, who is Security Forces in the Air Force, was working as Flight Chief. He immediately had to get the man power up as if we were under attack. His squadron had said that there was a chance that they would need volunteers to go to NYC to help look for survivors under the towers. My husband was one of the first to volunteer. Unfortunately his help was not needed.

Since 9/11 my husband has had to do several deployments and missed out on many special occasions. He does it all, with a broken heart from missing the family but with pride for what he is doing. My husband was deployed to Afghanistan when our son was born. My daughter at the time was 4 and my son was coming fast. So her and I had to take the ambulance to the hospital. The hospital was able to get him on the phone and that is how he was able to hear our sons first cry. Along with that birth, my husband has had to miss Christmas’s birthdays, anniversaries, and other special events.

Before we had kids we had both made the decision that I would be a stay at home and take care of our kids. Which I think is even more important when my husband is away. Because we have made that decision, it does mean cutting out extra spending and not being able to take family trips to often. My husband is such a hard worker and I would love to be able to surprise him with some time away with me and our kids.

While I don’t know how much longer my husband will be in the military since he is at 20 years now. I do know that it will be very hard for him to retire from this career. He has always loved the military life and it is in his blood. The Air Force will be losing an exceptional Airman, He has put everything he has in him into his job. He does not even use up his leave that he earns every year. He always has to carry a good bit over into the next year. Another good reason he could use a vacation. Vacations are few and far between for us.

Thank you so much for reading my story!