Military Officer - October 2007 - (Page 53)

Books responded by shipping several boxes of books to the DFW USO. “Our chapter also has a book drive going on right now, and we’ve collected 150 books so far,” says chapter President Lt. Col. Dick Johnston, USA-Ret. Problem solving is also part of Patty Little’s duties as a USO volunteer. Two days before Thanksgiving last year, she pulled out all the stops to help a young enlisted airman who found himself stranded at DFW International Airport. The airman’s child was scheduled to have brain surgery after Thanksgiving, but his emergency leave orders had come through too late. He couldn’t get back home to Honolulu. Patty Little called her husband, an American Airlines pilot. After making a few phone calls, Bob Little realized the only way to get the airman home during one of the busiest travel days of the year was to use his employee travel privileges to purchase a ticket to Honolulu. “It was the only way to get him on the next ﬂight back home in such a short time,” says Bob Little. “So, three hours from the time Patty ﬁrst called me, the airman was on an American Airlines Boeing 767 headed back to Hawaii sitting in ﬁrst class. I also arranged and paid for the airman to ﬂy back to DFW the following week at the end of his emergency leave. His son’s surgery went well, and he was headed back to the Middle East the ﬁrst week in December.” Support Your Local USO For the past 66 years, the USO has provided comfort and assistance to U.S. servicemembers and their families. The USO relies on the generosity of individuals, corporations, and associations such as MOAA and its chapter members to support its activities. Northeast Texas Chapter members donated $200 to the DallasFort Worth International Airport USO center. When a new USO center opened at Ontario International Airport in Ontario, Calif., the Mount Baldy (Calif.) Chapter began donating $300 a year to help fund the facility, and two members signed up as volunteers. Pensacola (Fla.) Chapter members support their local USO that operates centers at Pensacola Regional Airport and NAS Pensacola. The chapter has donated $3,500 to the USO in the past six years, and members such as Col. Ralphe Vawter, USMC-Ret., spend countless volunteer hours soliciting donations and in-kind contributions from area business owners. sine According to Ca Keith Capt. Weaver, USN-Ret., c N-Ret., chief operating officer for USO World Headquarters and a member of n national MOAA’s board of directors, the oard USO is continuing to expand, and ntinuing a new center will open in Iraq this fall. “Folks who want to support the troops should do it through the USO,” says Weaver. “I can tell you there’s probably not a better ou way to support our troops than through the USO.” h Visit www.uso.org and click on How to Help to learn how to make o a donation, beco tion, become a USO partner, or volunte at a local USO. volunteer OCTOBER 2007 A special brand of caring Members of the Seattle Chapter also are demonstrating their support for the troops by assisting the Puget Sound Area USO, which operates centers at Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport and McChord AFB, Wash. In addition, a mobile canteen serves troops and families in remote locations around the area. Seattle Chapter member Cmdr. Tom Hinman, USN-Ret., serves as the president and executive director of the Puget Sound Area USO, which serves more than 300,000 area servicemembers and their families from MILITARY OFFICER 53 http://www.uso.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - October 2007

Military Officer - October 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: A Hero's Welcome? Partners in Patriotism Tales from Beyond the Battlefield Financial Results of MOAA Pages of History Information Exchange Faces of MOAA Member Books MOAA Scholarship Donors Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - October 2007

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