Members of Retiree Council 12 brought donations to our October meeting for the military hospitality suite at Syracuse’s Hancock Field Airport. Additionally, $250 was raised from the 50-50 raffle as a couple of people donated back their winnings.
The Michael Mayne Cookie Corps was created in 2009 to honor the memory of fallen star Army Cpl. Michael Mayne from Burlington Flats who was KIA in Iraq on 2/23/09. Burlington Flats is in RC 12. Every month, volunteer members of the Cookie Corps bring donations to a central location in Mohawk and Little Falls for transport to Syracuse.
Since 2009, over 140,000 active and retired military personnel have made use of the accommodations at the Marine Corporal Gregory Harris Military Room. Cpl. Harris was from the Syracuse area. He was captured during the Iraqi War and remains unaccounted for.
The courtesy room is equipped with TV’s, recliners, WiFi access, computers, microwaves, etc. The room provides a stopover site while soldiers are in transit. The room is staffed by volunteers, many of them veterans. Fort Drumm deploys from Syracuse. Families come there to say good by to departing soldiers as well as to welcome them back home.
Do you remember the weather last year at Christmas? We were hit with a major storm. There were soldiers and their families who were literally stranded at the hospitality suite for several days.
By donating to the courtesy room, we best remember our departed heroes through deeds, not just words. These young men believed in “duty, honor ,country”. Keeping Michael Mayne’s and Gregory Harris’s flames burning, hopefully helps ease the anguish of their families and friends. It reminds us all that the deaths of our soldiers are not in vain.
Our veterans epitomize everything good about this country and have embodied its ideals by their actions. As we approach Veterans Day, if you see a vet, thank a vet.