Do you have a loved one serving our country? Are you the spouse of a deployed soldier? Are you interested in getting involved? Contact Patti for more information.

Care Group:
This team of talented and compassionate people will provide support to those individuals and families in our area who currently have a spouse deployed.
a. Home Maintenance Team
b. Cooking Team
c. Childcare/Youth Assistance Team
d. Donations and Special Items Team

Share Group:
This is a support network for those in our church and community who have family members deployed.

Prayer Group:
Each of us will serve on this vital team, praying regularly for all who serve in harm's way and for those who are left at home.Our first prayer request is that we would be able to identify the families who are in our community that need our love and support. Won’t you please be praying for that?

Also, if you know of an individual or family who could benefit from suppport of this kind, please let us know by contacting Patti. As always, this information will be handled delicately and with confidentiality.

Hello All,

Just a quick update as to how things have gone during the month of November for me. The month started out just like any other month…nice and slow and boring AND THEN….

I have started flying a little more than I was before. I am averaging about 65 hours of flight time a month so over the entire tour I should log about 900 hours of flight time. That will make you tired.

For Veteran’s Day my wife Kim took part in a Veteran’s Day celebration at our church [Chapel Hill]. She led the procession and carried the American Flag into all three services on that Sunday. Several people at the church emailed me and told me that she did a great job. She didn’t think she would (she was very nervous and that flag is heavy) but I knew she would and told her that.

On November 19^th we were flying in the vicinity of a town whose name I can’t pronounce when I saw 2 guys pointing rifles at the helicopter and they let loose with about 100 rounds right at us. Due to my expert piloting ability and my ferocious killer instinct coupled with my steely eyed calm I was able to take advantage of the aerodynamic abilities of the Blackhawk to perform the most incredible evasive maneuver ever performed by a human and most machines to evade the threat. Due to all this they actually only hit us once. The aircraft had a hole through both sides but there were no injuries to me or the rest of the crew. Actually, I just ran and hid like a scared little kid….all that other stuff sounded cooler though.

On the 27^th of the month I had a minor accident that could have very well been so much worse than what it was. An access door on top of the aircraft came off in flight and hit the tail rotor. We were able to land, again without any injury to the crew pretty quickly.

Thanksgiving was spent flying around Iraq taking some leaders to visit soldiers at various outposts. Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich, mashed potatoes, cole slaw and cranberry sauce. The person we were flying let us go to the chow hall at one of the stops but they were already out of the good stuff. It was a very small post and they do their own cooking. Needless to say they were not expecting guests so they let us invade their fridge.

The temps are cooling WAY down now. Highs during the day are in the 60s and lows at night in the high 30s. Pretty cold at night…we have to put a coat and hat on to go out.

They also opened a pizza shop and coffee shop with HOMEMADE pizza. Some of the MEDEVAC pilots built a building and made this place. One of the guys is getting supplies flown in on dry ice from his mother and makes his own pizza dough and stuff. This has become our Friday night tradition. They can even make latte’s so of course I had to have a raspberry non-fat latte last Friday night with my pizza.

Hope all is well with you all. I hope you have a happy holiday season and a Merry Christmas. Drink some eggnog for me, eat a cookie, open a present and spend some time with your loved ones,

Shawn