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rapidfire


Never Stop Serving K


ent Turner, a National Guard member whose unit, 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment, recently was activated, has


been a frequent flier at his local Maysville, Okla., post office. Turner regularly collects items from his coworkers at Burford Corp., a baking equip- ment company, and ships them to servicemem- bers overseas. To date, he’s sent more than 500 pounds of goods to units in Iraq and Afghanistan. How important is this project to the overall morale at Burford? Every time I post a flier asking for donations, I’m overwhelmed at the amount of items! The sense of patriotism is very solid here. Most folks have been affected in one way or another by the mass deploy- ments since 2001. They feel as if it is the least possible thing they can do to make it easier for deployed service- members. Burford has said they will continue to pay my salary even while I’m serving with the 1/279 — another example of their commitment to the military. Why do you think it’s important to send a physical care package to servicemem- bers with something from home? When you are deployed, your home life slips away


and all you have are your brothers and sisters to your right and left. Any semblance of normalcy reminds you that people back home still care for you and are anxiously awaiting your return. Receiving something as simple as a bag of beef jerky or a letter from a student means so much. Do you ever hear from the recipients? The majority of the packages I send out are to members of the armed forces that I am personally connected to. Just this past year we have received two certificate of appreciation plaques, a flag that was on board a B-1 [air- craft] during a mission over Syria, unit coins, and numerous thank- you cards and letters. Why is MOAA membership important to you? MOAA provides me with a direct voice to Congress. I am only midway through my military career, but


retirement must always remain as a focal point. I entrust that MOAA rep- resents the best interest for me and my family both now and in the future. My membership matters because I make the organization stronger, which makes our voice stronger.


— Molly Blake Attention! Check out these military-related entertainment offerings.


BOOK YOU DON’T LOSE ’TIL YOU QUIT TRYING (Berkley Cali- ber, 2016) In his memoir, Medal of Honor recipient Sammy Lee Davis, along with coauthor Caroline Lambert, chronicles how this Vietnam veteran’s childhood in the American


heartland prepared him for the worst night of his life.


DVD VICTORY RE- MEMBERED: LEGACY OF THE BLACK DEV- ILS (TreeHouse Dreams Films, 2016) This docu- mentary recounts the his- tory of the little-known,


20 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2016


top secret First Special Service Force (the Black Devils), a unit made up of U.S. and Canadian commandos. Several re- maining soldiers and their families retrace the Black Devils’ path to victory throughout France and Italy during World War II.


BOOK WHERE THE WATER MEETS THE SAND (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2016) Air Force spouse Dr. Tyra Man- ning describes how she persevered after the loss of her husband in Vietnam and fulfilled promises she made before he left. MO


PHOTO: BREANN’S PHOTOGRAPHY


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