Remembering

Today, as my family visited the cemetary in Ashton, Idaho near the majestic Tetons to take flowers to the graves of both my mother-in-law and father-in-law, there are two cemetaries in particular that have been forever imprinted in the minds, hearts and souls of my family...Arlington of course, that we have visited a few times,  and the American Cemetary in Normandy. That's where I took this picture to the left when we spent a Sunday there last summer. I didn't even have to ask the children to behave like we were on sacred grounds...they felt it all on their own.

UT National Guard is the first to make official presentations!

What a privilege to be at Camp Williams, Utah as the UT National Guard begins the first in a huge series of presentation ceremonies around the state to present each Soldier and Airman with their interactive historical record (post 9/11)!  To the right is Brent Lawrence, the SrVP of Mountain America Credit Union--the sponsor that paid for the whole thing--and he is assisting with the distribution. Below, right before MG Tarbet addressed the Soldiers of the 1-145th Field Artillery (500 PAX), Brent spoke to the group and told them why MACU wanted to sponsor them...that a simple "thank you" wasn't enough in exchange for their willingness to protect our state and our country. I watched each of the Soldiers coming through the line and I could tell that they very much appreciated this recognition.  On June 6th, the rest of the units throughout the state will be receiving theirs right after drill. This is the first time that a major Command has decided to put this kind of emphasis on each Soldier/Airman receiving not just their history, but their legacy to share with children and grandchildren. This is a fantastic start. One of these days, I'd also like to try presenting these at a formal event where highlights from the DVD-ROM can be shown on the big screen right before they each receive their own.  It was such an honor to be present for this first big day!Below, MG Tarbet is a significant part of the recognition ceremony as he greeted, and thanked each one for their service. This is the way it should be done! To view the press release for this day, click on the link in the left hand column of this blog. 

Hill Air Force Base Sponsorship Alliance in the Works

Ever since the Senior Leadership of the Wings at Hill AFB thought it would be great to give every Airman and Civilian (all 16,500 of them!) their legacy of service, I've been thrilled to see the community start to get behind it. As we are working on the corporate sponsorship alliance to cover the cost, this project has now received full endorsement from the Odgen/Weber and Davis Chambers of Commerce, the Aerospace and Industry Associates, the Military Affairs Committee, and others, including key leaders such as past Chairman of the Air Force Association, MG (ret) Pat Condon. In this economy, it's no secret that it's hard to raise funds for anything, but I have confidence that this community can do it. We already have Boeing and ATK Thiokol on board, and I believe that others will soon follow. Why would they want to be part of this? Because this is a permanent record of their support for the men and women who serve our country, because each of these interactive DVD-ROMs for each Wing will be given to every school in the state to educate them about what Hill (the largest employer in the state of Utah) AFB does, and because it will send a permanent message (no one ever throws away their historical record!) to all recipients, their families, all state civic and military leadership, and schools, and all media outlets. Nothing else like it!