Korea - Camp Casey

We arrived in Korea on Thursday night and the temperature was a balmy -2 degrees, Fahrenheit for goodness sake. We were in Guam the week before and it was about 100 degrees hotter. But after getting acclimated a little bit we are getting used to the cold. We heard it was cold, but is COLD.

We had an incredible first day. Tony Davis, country director of USO Korea, arranged to have a Blackhawk helicopter fly us down to Camp Casey. What a treat. I will tell you about the flight back in a little bit.

Camp Casey is mainly army infantrymen. They are the first line of defense against North Korea. So it was a real honor to be there. One other cool thing was getting to watch the Super Bowl at the USO there at Camp Casey.

We had two presentations there. The first presentation was to the second and third graders. We had a great time and the kids really enjoyed the show.  One little girl asked Stephanie, our traveling air force brat, if you are in the air force do get to fly a plane to school. It was as cute as it could be. 

But as it always happens, we get one comment that makes all the travel and everything we do so worthwhile.  A third grade girl, who was bundled from head to toe in a pink coat, asked an important question.Her eyes were so sad and she was so shy and quiet, but she found the courage to ask the question.. She asked Stephanie what are you supposed to do when you are getting bullied and don’t have any friends to talk to about it. Stephanie answered her very warmly supportively and we addressed the question again later to let her know that it is normal to feel alone sometimes but there is always support. This question seemed to be the theme of the day. So many military kids feel alone and isolated. That is why  it is so important to validate these feelings and give them the tools to make positive changes in their lives. That is exactly what the With You All the Way tour does.

The little girl in the pink came up to Trevor afterwards. Her eyes that were so sad were suddenly bright when she said, “A life was changed today.” Trevor asked her what she meant. She told Trevor his own personal story about being bullied in the second grade and the support she now has made her feel so much better. Trevor had a picture torn up by another kid in school and she had the exact thing happen to her. Just knowing that somebody else had been through the same thing, made her realize that people are with her all the way and she would be okay. A big smile came over Trevor’s face and they had a hug and she went off to be with her class.

The ride back on the Blackhawk topped off a great day. The pilots showed off a little bit for us and that was extremely exciting and thrilling. Those helicopter pilots are very cool, so hats off to them.

- The Comfort Crew