Kindness: Helping those in need is its own reward

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Kathleen Buckner
  • 349th Air Mobility Wing command chief
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE,Calif. --  I remember well, in the early 80s when someone coined the phrase, "practice random acts of kindness and senseless beauty."

It started a veritable flood of random acts of kindness that reverberated around the world.
A nonprofit organization was even started in 1995, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, to promote spreading kindness.

During this past week, there was a whole lot of kindness practiced at Travis, but it wasn't random. It was quite deliberate and calculated, and it brought a little joy and a lot of caring to our military families who left Japan in the wake of the devastating earthquake there.

Beginning March 22, those families began landing by the plane load here. More than 2,500 of them transited through our passenger terminal. At every point, they were met by smiling faces, helping hands, and offers of whatever assistance they needed.

This was an amazing combined effort between Team Travis, Army, Marines and Navy.

Help came not only from places like the United Service Organization, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, but from our Travis Regional Armed Forces Council, Airman and Family Readiness Center, Travis spouses, and civilians; from the lowest ranking members to first sergeants, chiefs and above.

Volunteers cradled sleeping children, frightened and worn out from their ordeal, and played or colored with others so their parents could take care of travel arrangements and necessary paperwork. Others gently assisted exhausted parents with luggage and baby strollers, helping them to waiting busses, standing ready to take them to area airports to continue their journey.

The base veterinarian (Northern California District Veterinary Command, U.S. Army), staff and volunteers saw to the needs of the four-legged guests, feeding, watering, walking them patiently. They provided their services happily, giving much needed strokes and belly scratches to pets bewildered by events.

Our folks weren't the only ones smiling. It was unbelievable that these military members, dependents and civil service personnel, who had endured so much and had just flown nearly 12 hours from across the Pacific and after a horrible disaster, were walking off the plane smiling, saying they were so happy to be home.

I don't know how to thank all of you, so I offer you this quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart."

A big "high five" to all of you!