Home Front to the Front Lines Garners Local Support for Troops

Around Christmas time when I was just six years old, my family had gathered around the kitchen table for a “family discussion” about who knows what. At that time, and in a staunchly Catholic and deeply rooted Italian family, children were present but out of sight. It was inappropriate for them to participate in adult conversations. Many of you would probably identify with this story.

My uncle had returned from what seemed like a normal tour of duty overseas. I remember many a Sunday night waiting around the telephone in my grandparent’s kitchen for his weekly call home. As his niece, I was unaware exactly what he did, except that he was honorable since he wore that courageous uniform of blue. He was an air traffic controller in the US Air Force. This is the thoughts that always stuck with me since the time I can remember those calls home. Not until my brother and son actually swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, did I fully realize the impact of that night.

At the table, I can still vividly see him in that Khaki colored uniform, which was his daily dress for an officer. When I made my way in to give him a hug, something I always did being curious about that uniform and his return home each time, I was told to be careful since he was wearing a “very large Band-Aid”. Looking back, I now know that his tower in Vietnam, the location he had been deployed to, was bombed in an attack. He was one of a couple that survived it. The reminder I walked away with that day, and still, is that it was not right to keep such things quiet. I was PROUD of him, regardless of what the world thought at that time, and I wanted to show him how much I loved him.

In my family’s own unique way of preserving his dignity, and protecting children from the evils of this world (that being the way the public treated soldiers during the Vietnam War), we were never told the story until years later. There are many details that I am still not sure of, and probably will never know. However, this is one of the primary reasons that the voice of support and patriotism shall remain vigilant.

The family is the first place that soldiers can receive support when they deploy. This task is not easy, as I found out when my brother served as a Seabee in the US Navy for twenty-two years. Additionally, my son is now serving in the US Army Reserves. Those who stay here to support from the home front know that life continues as normal as possible all while keeping them close in thought and prayer. In the four months that passed during his basic training, I found myself torn between finding the energy to keep him close even while he was not physically present and the necessary daily routines. Just as the cliché states, “You do not know what you have until it is no longer”. Thus, this is the second reason for the support group.

Families are the biggest part of a soldier surviving but they are the smallest group to provide it. As uncomfortable as this may sound, some do not even receive many reminders, if any at all during their deployment. Small reminders of normal life from home are some of the most treasured things of all. They see this as a small piece of home they can hold onto, while in a foreign place, to have a sense of familiarity and ties to home. Letters, cards, boxes with cookies, candy, or even normal things as socks all let these men and women know they are remembered and appreciated. The “home” is where the soldier wants to know that all is well while he or she is doing their job to continue to support and defend this nation’s most cherished item, freedom.

In just such a place in the community in which I live, the idea evolved. Mather Air Base is just a short drive from the town center of Rancho Cordova. If you are sitting outside on a warm fall day, you can hear the deep beats of the rotor blades as they cut through the atmosphere just above the community. This should be a reminder of who resides at the former Air Force Base, but alas too many, similar to myself until now, were unaware. As I do each morning, I stopped at the local coffee shop for my morning jolt! The sign next to the counter was as large as life, and reminded me that one does not have to be the family member of a soldier to show support.

Home Front 2 the Front Line is dedicated to serving those who serve to support and defend our nation, homeland, and hometown. This support group grew out of an idea by two very patriotic women at the local Starbuck’s location where many of these soldiers would come in for coffee. They wanted to give back to the community in a very big way and they did! Ms. O’Hagan and Ms. Palmer started a “Java for Joes” campaign with contributions coming from local patrons. It grew to include adopting the C-Co 1-168th Medevac unit when they deployed October 18, 2008 for overseas support to troops. The two women wanted to select a soldier’s family who could use a “Happier Holiday” and thus began the group for both community support and monthly “community care” packages to the forward deployed unit, Charlie Company, 1-168!!

Community support is all about a group of patriotic and compassionate people who either work or live in the same place. The Army National Guard of California protects our state. One of the state’s 200 locations is in our own backyard. The support group formed to provide a portal for the community that surrounds the C-Co 1168 Medevac unit to show them just how much we appreciate what they do for our community, our state, and now our nation. It extends beyond what families start when supporting their soldiers during deployment. Rancho Cordova knows its “Backyard is Fortified by the Guard” by lending their hearts to those who answer the call to duty. Take the time to make all the difference in the troops’ deployment this year and provide something to remind them that back home they are still a part of this community!

To contribute to the cause, please take time to visit the website, and leave your guest book comments. Soldiers read these and know we are staying close to their deployment. There are photos of them, with more to come as they just began their tour. Additionally, you can also stop by the Starbuck’s at International and Zinfandel to leave cards and cookies in the local box. Heritage Community Credit Union at Mather and Mane Attraction Salon in Gold River both have boxes where residents can leave cards, cookies, or letters that will be shipped out in January.